Colours of the ocean
by Kathahari
Summary: Levi gets hired as Mikasa's and Eren's bodyguard, and after one particular night the boy becomes quite interested in him. But Levi's in deep conflict about his own identity, not willing to let the him get too close and fall prey to the darkness of his twisted life. Yet even he knows only half of his true origins himself. Dark!AU Vampire!Levi. M for language, blood/violence & smut.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

The weather was especially dreary for a late October night in Munich. Rainwater drowned the city's streets, and seeped down the alley gutters he trudged pass every day on his way home.

 _It's been a tough day_ , he thought as he recollected the evening's events. That man from Milano had some nerve to put him under so much pressure. But, it was only a matter of time before he would put that bastard out of business. It was a game of patience after all.

The wind swept past him and he pulled his cloak tighter around his neck.

As he turned the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. In a dead end ahead of him, between two garbage containers, he was greeted by a quite unpleasant view. There was a man lying on the ground. Well, to be more precise, it was the leftovers of something that used to be a man not long ago. Now it was a mere pair of lifeless legs and a huge mess of meat and blood that was spilt over the ground as well as the containers and the walls of the buildings that surrounded the little place. The biting smell of alcohol and gastric juices assaulted him although he was a good ten feet away. He clamped his one of his gloved hand over his nose.

A boy about fifteen or sixteen years, panting and emaciated to his bones, was crouching over the pile of bones and flesh and he looked almost as dead as the corpse underneath him. His clothes were torn, muddy and dangled from his small figure. As he turned his head and looked at the other man who was staring him straight in the eye, a warm smile crossed his observer's face. The boy's eyes glowed in the dark, illuminating the street and painting every inch an icy blue colour, when he bared his teeth and a growl escaped his throat. The blond man kept watching, and started to close the distance between them.

"Well, what have we got here, young boy?" He put his hands in front of himself, exposing his empty palms and hoping the boy wouldn't jump at him before he got the chance to start a conversation.

He stopped a few feet away from him and knelt down although his cloak got soaked by the puddles mirroring the sky. The boy's eyes still gleamed, but he hadn't moved an inch yet. He merely kept watching his approach.

Now, right in front of him, the other man could see that the blood was also spread all over the boy's face. He slowly rummaged for something inside his pocket, but the boy shrank away.

"Don't be scared, I just want to give you something to clean the mess on your face, alright?" He pulled out a pristine white handkerchief and offered it to the boy. To say he looked sceptical would have been a massive understatement. He stared at the piece of white with such distrust, the other man had to chuckle.

"It's okay, seriously. I didn't poison it and I didn't do anything disgusting with it, either. Take it and wipe your face. And afterwards, I'd like you to come home with. Get a proper shower, and tell me how you got in a place like this. Since you already had your meal, you should be fine for the night, but in the morning, I can get you whatever you want. What do you say?"

The boy kept staring for a few more moments, the light in his eyes gradually fading.

Finally, he spoke. "You aren't some kind of fucking pervert, are you? 'Cause if you are, you bet your ass, you're going to end like this cocksucking little shit down here."

The blond man broke out in laughter. "Sure not, kid. I can think of better alternatives to find someone to spend the night with than randomly picking up some child who kills time slaughtering drunk men in a dark alley."

The boy took the handkerchief and wiped his face. Gazing down on the dirtied cloth, his face twisted in disgust. "Filth," he mumbled.

"Thus, my offer." The blond man rose to his full height, turned around and started walking down the alley while the boy gave his prey one last glance before he followed.

"Oi, what's your name, big boy?"

"Pardon me." The man turned around, took off his right hand's glove and offered it, that smile still on his face. "My name's Erwin Smith."

* * *

Fifteen years later and 700 miles away, somewhere downtown London, a man in an elegant looking suit climbed up the steps of a large, hardwood staircase, embellished with a heavy royal blue carpet and golden brackets holding everything in place. But he didn't even take a moment to glance at its beauty since he had seen it so many times before. The same applied to the expensive murals that covered every inch he passed. He just wanted to know why the hell he was supposed to come here in mere daylight. Worse, in the fucking morning.

At the stair's top he stood in front of a huge wooden door, but he didn't bother to knock. Pushing it open, his eyes attached to the ones of a very familiar face. Behind a massive desk, the kind that probably stood in all the business rooms of every existing world leader, sat a tall man with blond hair neatly parted on the left side, his bright blue eyes being one of his most striking features besides his thick and bushy eyebrows. As always, a collected expression settled on his face.

"What the fuck am I doing in your office at eleven a.m., Erwin?"

"Bad mouthed as ever, aren't we, Levi?" Erwin leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk and his chin on top his pleated hands. "As I already told you on the phone, I have a job that needs to be done. Only this time it'll somewhat differ from the usual." One of Levi's eyebrows raised up.

"Cut the shit, Smith, and spit it out."

Erwin took a deep breath and continued: "A good friend of mine needs you to act as a bodyguard for his daughter. It appears some complications will occur in the near future concerning her. Someone might try to kill her and given the circumstances, to me you seem to be the best man to secure her safety-"

"What circumstances?" Levi interrupted.

Erwin closed his eyes. He had seriously hoped that Levi would overhear that point.

"Trust me, Levi. It'd be best if you don't know until the time comes. Otherwise, it might endanger you as well as the safety of your client and his daughter."

He opened his eyes again, his face calm.

Levi walked to the huge wooden desk, never dropping his glare on Erwin. He halted in front of him, put his palms on the desk and stared down at Erwin, trying to read the other man's thoughts. But as always, all he saw was sincerity. His smell didn't give away anything, either. Would it have been any other person despite Erwin, he would never even think of dropping such a subject. If he was going to risk his ass, he had the damn right to know what he was getting into. But in fact, it was Erwin sitting in front of him. The one and only man on this cursed planet he trusted. Fully. The one he would follow blindly into any fucked up situation as he already had so many times before. And Erwin earned his trust, for he was the reason Levi made it out alive when things became too hard for him to bear alone.

"Fine. Who's the client?"

Erwin's lips twitched up, relieved. "His name's Grisha Yeager. You might've met before since he's a member of the Big Ones."

Levi tried to remember the faces he had seen on their meetings. The Big Ones were a gathering of people Erwin did business with. Some mafia bosses, others in charge of oil or weapon companies, but all of which were important men and women who pulled the world's strings from the shadows. Some more, some less.

"He runs one of the world's three largest weapons ring and his residence happens to be close as well. I've known him since he started business. I've helped him turning it into an empire almost thirty years ago, and in exchange I take part in his research, to ensure that I get a hand on the latest technology. He used to be a scientist, which is why he still leads the research department alone, and his results never fail to impress me. Additionally, he's an exceptional strategist. You can imagine that he and I got along pretty well right from the start."

Levi stood still, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he listened to what Erwin said.

Yes, he could imagine, Erwin would like someone like this Yeager-guy.

Erwin wasn't the type to ever show his disliking of other people openly, but there were only a few who hold his respect. And judging by the way he spoke about Yeager, he seemed to be one of them. So perhaps working for him wouldn't be too bad after all.

Then again, he wasn't going to guard Grisha Yeager but rather his daughter. Just because her father may have been a respectable person didn't mean that she was as well. Hell, he knew that the best men might have the worst kids. And vice versa.

"Nice to know, but I still know shit about his daughter, why she's threatened and, more importantly, what I'm going to protect her from." Levi kept his usual bored expression.

Erwin sighed heavily, evidently bored that he had to repeat himself.

"As I've already told you, you don't need to know the details. And as for the daughter herself, I don't know very much about her, either. Her name is Mikasa Ackerman, she seems to be a shy and silent girl, she's nineteen years old-"

"Are you fucking serious?" Levi interrupted him, losing his cool despite this little information. "Are you out of your goddamn mind to put me in charge of a fucking teenager? What the fuck am I, a stupid babysitter? Do you know what it's like to bodyguard a nineteen year old girl? I assume, this'll be a 24/7 job, so I would have to follow her to every fucking shopping tour, every stupid party at some dirty as fuck dance club, and stay close to her while she hosts retarded pyjama parties? No, forget it. Go get some other moron to do this shit. I'm out."

Levi turned on his heels, stomping out the room but before he reached the door, he heard Erwin shout: "Levi, I beg you. It has to be you, no one else can do this."

Levi flinched and stopped, still not looking back. It was rare that Erwin begged. Fuck, he was one of the biggest underground bosses, he rarely needed to. He could tell people to rip their legs off, and people would be tripping over themselves to fulfill his request. That only left one option as to why he did it nonetheless. He requested it as a friend.

He had to have some personal interest in Levi doing this job. Which Levi couldn't just shrug off and ignore, and Erwin fucking knew that. _Little son of a bitch._

"When do we start?" Levi spat out through clenched teeth.

He could almost feel the blonde smile. "Now. And to calm your nerves, as I said, she's more of a silent one. As far as I know, she has only two friends, one is her brother and the other a similar silent young boy. So, she doesn't seem to be a typical teenage girl after all. The three of them are lectured at home, so they rarely leave their house, as Grisha had told me. Moreover, I will search for the suspect myself. In the best scenario, it'll only take me a few weeks, I'll take care of him myself, and you'll earn a nice amount of money for looking out for a couch potato girl."

Levi hoped Erwin was right. Having her brother as one of her only friends was pretty paltry. "Wait, you said her surname is Ackerman. How's she the daughter of someone named Yeager?"

Erwin passed Levi, looking straight ahead out of his office when he was about to exit.

"She's adopted."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Due to London's slow-moving traffic, they reached the south coast of England two and a half hours later. The area was quite isolated, and it had been a while since he came across oder passed an inhabited houses. As the black Mercedes drove over another green hill, Levi already saw a mansion ahead of the sloping terrain that ended in a wall of cliffs. The car windows were up, but Levi could still hear the sounds of raging waves breaking against the rocks.

 _Must be boring as fuck out here_ , he thought.

The estate was surrounded by a twenty-foot-high retaining and heavily equipped safety corridor, but what else do you expect from a guy dealing weapons? Of course he was careful. Even though Levi hadn't heard anything illegal about him (well, except for selling his products not only to his homeland but other interested parties as well), it was perfectly natural for someone in his position to make sure he wouldn't get murdered in his sleep.

Since Erwin was already expected and, as it seemed, well-known by the security guards, they were simply winked through. They drove around a white marble fountain in front of the mansion's entrance that had yet to be filled and jump-started for the warmer months before their driver halted the limousine and hurried out to open the doors for Levi and the blonde. What was stupid, so Levi stepped out by himself, eyeing the building.

It was a simple two-story box with porches on the first, balconies on the second floor and a hip roof with dormers, but its proportions' elegance and the sheer size of the damn thing were what put it pretty solidly in mansion territory. And to top off the grande dame routine, all the windows were framed on the inside by jewel-toned drapers, and through the windows, Levi could see a chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

The front door was big enough to belong on a cathedral, and standing in it's frame was an elderly, friendly-looking woman. She greeted them politely, and without another word she lead them through the entrance hall, up the laterally placed stairway, and towards one of the rooms at the left end of a hallway. In Levi's opinion, the bright decor of the house didn't quite fit for an internationally known weapons lord, but who was he to complain? He didn't care about stuff like that. What he was actually interested in was the fact that the house was exceptional clean. The carpets were flawless, and not one single mote was to be found, not even on the large chandelier hanging in the entrance hall. The elderly woman, who must have been some kind of housekeeper or maid judging by her uniform, stopped at the hallway's last door and knocked with care.

"Mr. Yeager, sir, your guests have arrived. May I lead them in?"

"But of course, Maria," a voice called from the other side of the door. She opened it and bowed to mention for Erwin and Levi to enter.

"Shall I brew some tea, Mr. Yeager?" she asked.

"That'd be wonderful, Maria," he answered her. She excused herself and closed the door behind her.

"Erwin, thank you so much for coming here today. I know your time is very limited, so I am glad to see you again. The reason could've been a more joyful one but so be it. I knew you would understand that this matter doesn't permit any put-off."

Levi eyed his client. Grisha Yeager was a tall, slender man with straight black hair neatly parted down the middle, a thin beard and moustache and ashen eyes. He was wearing a grey suit with a black vest and a white shirt underneath it, a plain bolo tie and round glasses on his straight nose. He looked more like a professor than a scientist and even less like a weapons lord, to be honest. But judging people by their appearances was a mistake you only commit once if you're smart and still alive. Levi had taught this lesson to a lot of people.

"The pleasure's mine, Grisha. I do understand your concerns, so I immediately gathered my partner and left London to visit you. If I may introduce, this is Levi." Erwin gestured his head in Levi's direction. Grisha moved around the desk he was standing behind, and walked towards Levi, his hand stretched out.

"A pleasure to meet you, Levi-," Grisha paused as he noticed that Erwin hadn't mention Levi's surname.

Levi took Grisha's hand. "Levi's fine."

He hated this whole introduction shit, but since he didn't want to lower Erwin's reputation he played along. As Erwin and Grisha kept talking, Grisha led the three of them to a sitting area next to a large window, and gestured for them to sit down. Levi picked up some information Grisha dropped while speaking with Erwin he considered as useful for the next few days. Such as that the girl hardly ever went out and spend most of her free time working out. Which was positive, in Levi's opinion. At least the brat had some discipline. And he would be given a room for himself on the same corridor as the kids.

They were interrupted by a barely audible knock and Maria entered the room, balancing a tray with a tea set made of delicate porcelain on her left hand. She approached them, placing the teacups in front of everyone, and poured hot tea into them. Levi grabbed one cup and was amazed when he took a sip of his tea, although his face stayed as stoic as ever. He tasted jasmine aroma of the finest quality, and it was brewed perfectly. The fewest of the people he met were able to make tea to his liking. But this woman, or whoever was responsible in the kitchen, had made it to his list.

"Thank you, Maria. May I ask you to get the children up here, so I can introduce them?"

Maria bowed again. "Of course, Sir. I'll be right back," she said and quitted her service with a warm smile.

Levis attention was drawned back to the two men, who were exchanging their lastest research outcomes, and took another sip. Levi switched back to the conversation between the other two men, who had changed the subject to Grisha's latest researching outcomes and took another sip. At least he won't die of dead taste buds.

A few minutes later, Maria was back, three young adults at her heels. Grisha and Erwin stood up and so did Levi.

Standing next to the door, he saw a short boy with a somewhat muscular build. He had a round feminine face, blond hair that was cut in the style of a bob, large, expressive blue eyes, brown eyebrows and a somewhat upturned nose. He wore a long-sleeved single-buttoned collared shirt, a pair of jeans, and long brown boots that reached up almost to his knees. Levi noticed the book he held behind his back and read its title. It was about the military strategies of Admiral Lord Nelson, who was known to be one of the greatest strategists in history. Levi was kind of impressed. Not necessarily a subject that boys of his age are interested in.

Beside him was the reason for Levi's own attendance. With her pale skin and calm, grey eyes, she seemed of Asian heritage. The teenage girl was tall, very muscular with chin-length black hair and wore an expression of a soldier. She also had a small scar below her right eye. Levi didn't get the impression that she would necessarily need a guard, the less so someone of his vocation. She was wearing a simple white shirt, black pants and black knee-high leather boots. One part although was off. Around her neck and almost covering half of her face, was a thick red scarf. Even though they were inside of their fucking house.

But the last kid in the row caught his attention most. Right next to the girl stood a young man of average height and build, with a fairly long, yet rounded face. His hair was grown out a bit and brown, his bangs falling into a middle-parted curtain-type style. His complexion also seemed somewhat tan in contrast to the other two kids. He wasn't overall broad but nonetheless physically fit and muscular as Levi could tell, although his baggy clothing didn't give away much. He could perceive it by his posture.

The boy was wearing a pair of brown trousers, a green shirt with string tassels at its collar and simple sneakers, all of them worn out. Levi caught the scent of shampoo coming from his damp hair and it mixed with his natural odour. He smelled good. Fresh. But none of this was what really took his interest.

It was his eyes.

Those sizable, expressive green eyes. Never in his life had he seen such clear and rich green, and he never would have expected to see something similar in a young boy's face of all things. They seemed so... deep.

Grisha pulled Levi out of his thoughts.

"Ah, there you are, children! Come here, I want to introduce you to the man who'll keep you company from now on."

Levi's eye twitched, but it had gone unnoticed by any other in the room. He didn't remember agreeing to this job yet.

"Erwin, Levi. This lovely girl in the middle is Mikasa, to her right side is my son Eren. To her left, this is Armin, a good friend, who will stay here for the next three months due to his semester vacation."

Levi already knew what was coming next since it was frankly written on the girl's face.

"No," she said and walked out of the room.

* * *

Eren didn't want to go up to his father's study, he rather wanted to stay by himself and keep working on his guitar accords. He had played them a hundred times already but still hadn't found another composition that would fit.

He heard Maria coming down the hallway and knocking on his door. "Sir Eren, I'm sorry to interrupt but your father wants to see you in his office. His guests arrived and he wants you to get to know them since one of them will stay for a while."

 _Can't argue with that, can you?_

"Yes Maria, just a sec. Let me put on some clothes." He laid down his guitar and grabbed one of the shirt that were laying around the room. Since he took a shower hours ago and came in here to practise right after, he was still only clad in a towel around his hips. He opened the door to his bedroom and rummaged through the closet for a pair of trousers. When he found a brown one that matched his shirt, he pulled them out and over his legs. His hair was still damp but that shouldn't be a problem. He slipped his sneakers on and walked out on the hallway to find Maria still standing in front of his studio. "I'm here, Maria. Let's grab Mikasa and Armin and get this over with." He gave her a warm smile when she turned to him.

"Of course, Sir Eren," she paused and looked worried, "Sir Eren, how many times do I have to tell you to blow dry your hair when you get out of the shower? It's February, and a pretty cold one, too. You'll catch a cold if you aren't careful." Eren walked up to her and put his hands on both sides of her shoulders.

"Stop worrying, Maria. I'm nineteen years old. I can look after myself, y'know?" Maria sighed and shook her head lightly.

"Nineteen years and still not listening."

Eren grinned and walked past her to go up to Armin's and Mikasa's rooms. His friend, as most of the time, had his nose buried in some book, and his sister was busy with practising her latest knife handling moves. Mikasa had always had an addiction to knives and almost every other weapon. Only a few months ago she finally convinced their father to let her take lessons on how to use them properly. They were supposed to be for self-defence but whenever she was spinning and jumping around with her favourite knife, to Eren it looked more like a choreography. But she was obviously good, which made this whole appointment they had to take part in now even less comprehensible. Mikasa had become one of the strongest persons he had ever known, and with ease she could compare her strength to any man he had met so far. And now she had even been taught in handling weapons, but their father still wanted some random guy to become her bodyguard. All because he received a stupid threatening letters. Whoever the guy was, he should better not try. Eren was certain that Mikasa could rip him apart in mere seconds. On the other hand, Eren wasn't blind to his father's doing. He knew that he led one of the biggest weapons companies, and not even Mikasa could repel a freaking bullet if that fucker was serious. But then again, Eren failed to see, what a bodyguard could do about it.

"Let's see who's this almighty guard," Eren said as the four of them marched towards his father's office. Maria knocked on the door before she opened it. His father sat across from a tall grown man with blond hair, and to his left was sitting another guest who Eren couldn't see yet since the blond guy pretty much blocked his sight completely. But when his father stood up, followed by the other two, Eren got a clear view. The third man must have been in his late twenties, maybe early thirties and had short, straight black hair styled in an undercut, as well as narrow and intimidating looking grey eyes with dark circles under them. He yet had a deceptively youthful face. He was quite short, but his physique was definitely well-developed. He wore a tight-fitting black suit with a light grey button-up shirt underneath along with a white ascot and dress shoes and a frown on his face. Something about him made Eren assume, that this likely was his usual expression. This plus his extremely calm demeanour left wide open what he was thinking at the moment.

 _I've never met someone before with such a deadly aura. He certainly seems like one of those people who slits your throat open before taking a slow sip of their tea._

He noticed the cups on the table of his father's sitting area.

 _What did I say?_

Grisha introduced them but left open, which one was Levi and who was Mr. Smith. Well, since the name Smith fit perfectly for the blond guy, he assumed the other one would be Levi.

 _Or did he say Rivaille? Ah, doesn't matter._

Because, Eren knew what was coming next.

Right next to him he felt his sister's simple and concise "no" even before she spoke it out loud and then left the room, leaving behind their rather dumbfounded father.

"Please excuse me for a minute," Grisha said shortly and followed his daughter. The four men kept standing in their spaces until Eren heard a light snickering coming from the huge blonde.

"Well, would you like to keep us company as long as Mr. Yeager discusses this matter with his daughter?"

 _At least he seems to be nice_. "Sure," Eren said.

He sat down on the chair next to him, across from the shorter man. Armin followed silently but didn't had the guts to look at either one of the unfamiliar men. He saw the tall man taking a glimpse of the book Armin was hiding and addressed him: "I'm impressed, young man. To understand the contents of his strategies, you must be pretty sharp-minded. Are you into strategy games?"

Armin looked up at him and stammered: "Yeh-yes, they're my favourites. But I must admit that Admiral Nelson's manoeuvres were quite simple-minded in my opinion."

The blonde gave him a heartful laughter. "Sure, that's easy to say once you know them. But the trick is to figure out how your enemy's thinking without some book telling you all you have to know." He glanced over to the chess game lying on the windowsill. "Wanna play?" He had already gotten up to get it.

"Oh- yeah, sure. Why not?"

Eren saw Armin's tensed shoulders slowly relaxing. Mr. Smith was indeed kind. The sort of man that made everyone in his surroundings feel comfortable. So, while he and Armin started to play chess, Eren was left with nothing better to do than inspect the other man. What wasn't easy since he glared back at him right away. Eren was tempted to give in and just look at something else, but his curiosity took the better of him. He tried to withstand the other's rigid eyes. There was absolutely nothing his face was telling him. He looked cold. Maybe a bit bored, but that was it. Those narrowed grey eyes – Eren could have sworn, he saw a touch of blue in them – seemed to look straight into his soul while they themselves were nothing more than simple, endless pools which reflected their surroundings. The longer he tried to look at Levi, the more at unease he felt.

"I don't know what he's doing here and I don't like him. He looks like he's not even capable of saving a sheep from drowning. Haven't you seen what a midget he is? All that aside, I can take care of myself, father. I train every day, I take lessons to defend myself in every possible way. So what's this all about?"

Everybody's head shot towards the door, as they heard Mikasa whispering to her father behind the door, obviously thinking that they wouldn't hear her.

 _Or maybe she's doing it on purpose._

"As I said, darling, there are things neither I nor you can protect you from. And that's why he's here today and why he'll stay, whether you like it or not. I'm not asking you to become friends with him. He simply has to stay by your side until we get rid of that man. Do I really ask too much from you? I don't want to lose you, darling." Grisha was speaking as softly as he could. Eren knew this voice very well, his father often used it when Mikasa didn't agree with him. And most of the time, when he did it, she wouldn't be able to go against his will.

"Fine," he heard her say.

The next second the door was opened and Grisha and Mikasa stepped back in.

"Alright," Grisha began, "pardon the little interruption, but I think everything has been cleared up. Children, would you please go back to your rooms now?"

Armin stood up first. "We just started a chess game, Mr. Yeager. Would it be too impolite to ask if we could end it first?"

Erwin also rose to his feet and put one large hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's okay, I remembered the pawn's positions. I'll come by another time and we can finish the game." Armin looked up at him and nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll see you later at dinner," Grisha said. Eren walked out of the room, right after his sister and followed by Armin. He took one last glance at Levi, who looked pissed for some reason.

 _So he has other faces_ , Eren thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Grisha sat down in his desk chair, visibly exhausted. "Leading companies is a child's play compared to handling teenagers. I apologize for her behaviour. Usually she's a very lovely and calm girl-"

Levi's patience was wearing thin.

"Yeah, I recall you mentioning it. Do I have it right that these kids are regularly together, which means that I've to take care of each one of them in case the guy who threatens your daughter might get the idea to try to get a hand on her through them?" Grisha's jaw dropped a little, but he recovered swiftly.

"You're sharp, Levi. What might be part of the reason you're here today, correct? Indeed, I was about to ask you for exactly that. I know that guarding teenagers isn't one of your usual missions, but the man we are tracking isn't a usual person either. He's very talented and operates on a high level. And as it seems he's got– ahm – special abilities, so to say. According to Mr. Smith, this makes you the perfect shield against him. There won't be too much for you to do. You have to stay near them, escort them when they're leaving the house and stay alert in general. It should be almost impossible for him to attack in our ground since the whole estate is surrounded by motion detectors and guards, but I don't want to leave an opening for him. And it'd give me a better feeling when I have to go back to Munich to continue my research. I'm confident that with Mr. Smith's help we'll be able to find the man in no time. Naturally, I'll pay you any fee you wish me to."

Levi kept sitting in his chair, thinking everything through. He was sure as hell, this mission wouldn't end without some serious encounter with at least one of those brats. And although everyone kept telling him that there's nobody else who could carry out this job, it seemed to be a rather simple one. So the little detail about why he has to the one doing, must be crux. After all he had heard, especially about his target's ominous abilities, he was getting curious.

"Fine, I'll do it. But I have my own way of handling things, and this includes dealing with those kids."

Grisha sighed relieved. "That's fine with me. I trust you to not torment them too much when I'm gone. But perhaps the boys will profit from a stronger regiment. I'm getting too soft in my older days."

The three men stood up and Grisha escorted them to the main entrance. Erwin said his goodbyes to Grisha, then to Levi. When he was about to turn and walk away, Levi grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down to his level, so he could reach his ear: "You better find that cocksucker fast, you hear me?"

Levi released him and Erwin stood straight again. His lips twitched up while he closed his eyes.

„When have I ever disappointed you?" was all he said, and then he was gone. Leaving Levi alone in this mansion with an elderly man and an even older maid, who can at least brew a good cup of tea, and three brats.

 _This is going to be one of the shittiest jobs I've ever taken._

"Well then, Maria will show you your room as well as the rest of the house. I have to excuse myself as there are still some things I have to take care of. In case you need anything, find me in the study." And so, Mr. Yeager also was gone. Maria bowed and was about to say something, but Levi disrupted her.

"Stop it. I want no fucking bowing, no titles, bullshit whatsoever. Just show me everything I need to see."

Maria straightened her back and looked Levi straight in the eyes. "Very well, follow me."

It was a quick change of attitude, but Levi appreciated it. Maria took him up the stairs again, showing him his room first. It was decorated very femininely, but Levi didn't care. It had a large bed, a closet, a TV, a desk and a separate bathroom. But most importantly, it was sparkling clean. It was all he needed. Maria next led him to the rooms of the three kids without entering them, and afterwards she showed him the kitchen, the dining room, the library and pretty much everything else including the basement, where a gym with a small pool and a sauna were located as well as a shooting area.

When Maria guided him back to his room, she said: "That was about everything. The luggage Mr. Smith sent should've already been brought to your room. Dinner will be at seven o'clock. Is there anything else I can do for you at the moment?"

Levi found said luggage lying next to the bed. "Did you make the tea I drank in Mr. Yeager's office?"

"Yes, I did."

"Good, bring me another can as well as some cleaning stuff. No one may enter this room from now on. Remember to tell the rest of the staff."

„Very well."

Levi closed the door and began to unpack his things. So Erwin already knew he would take the job. He allocated some of the short-ranged weapons throughout the room, one on either side under the mattress, one in the closet, and another on top of the shower cubicle. Additionally, he placed a sniper rifle under the windowsill. Then he switched the Glock he was wearing with one of his hunter knives. He preferred them anyway inasmuch as he preferred hand-to-hand fighting. Maria came back with another can of jasmine tea and the requested cleansers and clothes.

* * *

Hours went by and Levi busied himself with cleaning the weapons he hadn't used for a longer time. Finally it was seven 7pm and Maria knocked on his door again. Levi opened it, and got irritated when he saw she had come with empty hands.

"Dinner's ready," she stated.

"Did you eat it your way up here?"

The maid blinked. Now it was Maria who got confused.

"No, of course not. Dinner normally takes place in the dining room. I came to escort you, since you weren't there already."

Levi stared at her for a moment. "I'll eat in my room. Alone." He started to glare at the elderly maid to lend weight to his words, but Maria remained indifferent.

"If I understand your role in this house correctly, you're supposed to keep an eye on the two young Sirs and the Miss. How will you do that, if you aren't in the same room as them?" This was already getting on his nerves.

"As far as Mr. Yeager told me, being in this house isn't his prime concern. My job's to be faster than whoever will come here uninvited, which is assured due to the surrounding motion detectors. The main problem will occur when they have to leave." The fact, that he wouldn't even need any useless detectors, he left aside.

Maria's irritation appeared to grow bigger. "I don't know if I can allow such manner, so I must speak to Mr. Yeager about it." Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Do so. In the meantime, I'll get my food." He pushed past Maria and headed to the kitchen.

* * *

Eren sat in their dining room, chatting with Armin about their progress in the newest video game. Armin was way ahead, but Eren was used to it so it didn't bother him much. Well, not anymore at least. There had been times he would have gotten furious that he wasn't able to surpass Armin in any damn game that wasn't only about physical dexterity. But Armin seemed completely unable to lose as long as he could put his mind to use. Often, he was too smart for his own good in Eren's opinion, since the usual result of all his brain wracking was that he never tried anything until he was one hundred percent certain about every aspect of it.

He kept talking with Armin while Mikasa and his father ate their meal in silence, until he heard something behind him. He looked over his shoulder to find a rather unhappy Levi marching down the hall in direction of the kitchen. He was about to ask across the room whether he'll eat with them, but then Maria appeared shortly after Levi and tiptoed towards Grisha.

"Mr. Yeager, Sir Levi would rather take his meals inside his room, but I wasn't sure, if I could allow this myself."

"That's fine, Maria. Please stop worrying. He isn't here to play part of the family, he's here to protect us. And I fully trust him to know which way is best to do so."

Grisha was confronted with four sceptical looking faces, but he just continued eating, dropping the matter. Only moments later, Eren saw Levi heading in the opposite direction, most likely back to his room. He didn't know what to think of this guy. He evidently was one of the quieter side and who preferred to be by himself. Given their warm first meeting, Eren wasn't surprised. But it nagged him somehow, that there was someone in his very own home he knew almost nothing about. He was friends, or at least on friendly terms with every single person who was working on their estate. Even the security guards dropped their attitude towards him as long as no one else was around to see. So Levi was kind of an outlandish exception.

 _Maybe with time comes change,_ he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The next three days went by without anything out of the ordinary. The boy and his sister continued to take their lessons, to pursue their hobbies, and if one them or the little blond boy had to go into the city to buy some random stuff, Levi escorted them. They could easily have ordered someone to get the stuff they needed, but Levi assumed that these were the only times they were actually allowed to get away from the estate. Who would have guessed, that being a child of a weapons lord was this boring?

On the other hand, it made his job less painful. But even he had to admit that his urge to get out of here was growing. He was used to long-term jobs, but he'd never needed to stay put in one place for more than three days. Mr. Yeager had gone to Munich, and left Levi in charge of everything. He said it would only be two days until he came back since that girl's birthday was about to take place. So, Levi spent his days working out at the basement's gym, reading some of the books the library had to offer, and checking the terrain for possible openings or security gaps. He was surprised not to have found a single one yet.

The night before Mr. Yeager should have come back, Levi was in his room, inspecting his weapons once more, and to fill the more and more unnerving silence, he switched on some random TV channel. And guess what, nothing but shit or some rerun of shit was shown, so he switched from channel to channel until he passed channel zero, until a little red light flashed on the TV's side. Levi stood up from his bed to inspect it, and saw it coming off from a single tiny button.

Levi pushed on it. _Look, what we've got here._

The display split in sixteen screens, all recording rooms and areas of the house. Levi took a quick glance to determine whether he saw himself on any of the screens. Nope, but that doesn't mean shit. He started to inspect every inch of his room as well as the bath, but nowhere did he find any camera. So he looked back on the display and noticed that every room was recorded from out of the same corner.

 _Left above the entrance, huh?_

But still, nothing to be found in his room. He didn't have a problem with being watched, but he wanted to know if that was the case. With the remote he chose the separate screens and switched between them. The first screens showed different angles of the surrounding areas followed by the entrance hall and the house's floors. Next were the recordings of the basement. He saw Mikasa at the gym doing body weight exercises. They often met down there, but never shared a single word. Mostly, she continued whatever she was doing while Levi followed his own lead. They came so a silent agreement, that the less they had to interact together, the better for both of them. She wasn't very fond of him, but it didn't concern him. Yet he respected her to some extent for being strict about herself. Since he had arrived, he hadn't once seen her being lazy or somehow emotional. She always worked at improving, may it be her mind by taking home lessons and homework seriously, or her body by harsh weight and agility training. And she was always wary. Levi just hadn't figured out the motivation behind her actions yet.

He kept on switching, seeing the pool area, the dining room, and the library, where the shorter blond boy was sitting on a chaise longue with a book in his hands. Next, he saw an empty bedroom followed by another one that wasn't empty, though. He saw the boy with those impressive green eyes sitting on his bed, having a silvery guitar in his lap. But he wasn't playing, he seemed to be thinking about something.

 _Pretty nasty to film a bunch of hormonal teenagers_ , Levi thought. _Do they know they are being recorded?_

He switched through the rest of the screens and noticed that neither Mr. Yeager's office nor his bedroom was being recorded.

 _Could've guessed._

He switched the TV off and walked back to bed, sitting down. His eyes wandered to the book he had taken from the library. _Tropic of cancer_ by Henry Miller. He remembered Erwin reading it when he was in his apartment in Munich for the first time. Even back then he had told Levi, that it wouldn't fit his taste. But since he was left with nothing better to do, he took it when he found it on one of the library's higher shelves. He lifted his legs upon the bed and leaned back on its headboard.

 _Let's see if Erwin was right._

He started reading, when he felt a clinging inside his chest. The urge was growing bigger. If he had known beforehand that he would be locked up for this long, he would have taken care of it before he accepted the job. But things were the way they were. Mr. Yeager would be back by tomorrow, and then he could simply request to go out for a little while. It would cause trouble, he knew that already, but he would come up with some excuse about it.

 _Maybe I can involve Erwin, that would make things less annoying._

* * *

"I'm sorry, Eren, but I won't make it in time. One of my developers found a bug that I've to take care of myself. When I'm lucky and fast, I'll be back by tomorrow." It was nine o'clock in the morning and Eren couldn't believe his ears.

"But it's her birthday, goddamnit! How can some stupid bug be more important than her?" Eren heard his father sigh.

"Of course it isn't, but there's nothing I can do about it-"

"That's a fucking lie, you're their boss, for god's sake!" Eren yelled down the line. „Bad enough we have to stay here in this fricking house all the time, all by ourselves while you're out there, jetting through the world. Which only got worse since you received that stupid threatening letter. How the hell do you even know that we should take it serious? Perhaps it was just some contra-weapons-guy. But anyways, that's a different issue. The point is, that you should at least be here with us for the important stuff, like Mikasa's birthday!"

An uneasy silence took place between them before Grisha finally spoke.

"I know, Eren. I really do. But there's nothing I can do about it. As you said, I'm their boss. I can't just run away and leave everything be. Please try to understand. I'll make up for it, I promise. It'll only be one more day. I'll be back tomorrow and take you to that nice little coffee shop by the park that Maria told us about when she came back from grocery shopping the other day. How does it sound?"

Eren was still angry at his father, but that truly sounded like a nice idea. And he knew Mikasa would also accept it. „Okay. I guess I tell her then."

"Please, Eren. She'll be less depressed, if you will tell her. You never fail to cheer her up when she's sad."

It was true. All Eren would have to do was to fool around a little, maybe play her a song on his guitar and Mikasa's mood would brighten up. At least a little bit.

"Oh, and please don't forget to tell Mr. Levi as well," Grisha reminded.

 _Oh yeah, Mr. Levi. That spooky ghost that wanders through our hallways._

He still couldn't get any information out of this guy. He rarely talked, he always ate by himself. Sometimes when their ways crossed and Eren tried to start a little small talk, Levi would just answer him shortly if at all. Something like: "Oh, hi. How are you today?" - "Good." And he would be gone. Eren didn't know what was so damn special about this guy, that his father chose him to be Mikasa's guard instead of someone who would have been a little more sociable.

But then again, he still didn't get this whole matter altogether. Levi, on the other hand, was always on alert. Every little detail in the way he looked, the way he walked, it all screamed caution. But in such a subtle way, that Eren couldn't help but think it was somehow cool.

"I'll let him know, dad." They both said their goodbyes and Eren put down his phone.

 _So, what am I going to do first? Tell Mikasa that our father wouldn't make it to her nineteenth birthday or Levi that he'll be fully responsible for us for another day?_

Eren decided to put the latter front. The conversation with his sister would surely take a longer time, so if he carries things out the other way around, there was a possibility that he would forget about Levi in the end. He pushed open the door leading to the hallway, and made his way up to Levi's rooms.

It was almost time for breakfast; Eren could smell the fresh fried eggs and the fruit slices Maria was preparing. He took the stairs and turned around the right corner, heading towards Levi's door. He hesitated a moment before he finally knocked. Actually it was the first time Eren contacted him himself since he moved in. Every other time, Maria or his father notified Levi when there was something for him to do. The door swung open, but only enough for Levi's figure to fill. He obviously was trying to block Eren's view into the room. Which would have been a little foolish since Eren was half a head taller than him, if there hadn't been Levi's demanding frown that kept Eren's eyes tightly locked on the man in front of him.

He wore a light grey button up shirt partly untucked from a pair of black jeans, and though the suit he was wearing the first time they met looked very nice on him, this look seemed to be more natural for him. Levi's frown deepened when Eren kept on staring at him but stayed still.

"Spit it, brat." He pulled Eren out of his thoughts.

"Ahm, yes. I-I wanted to tell you that my father… Wait, did you just call me a brat?"

 _Had he really heard right?_

"Duh," Levi said bluntly, "is there a problem?"

That got Eren dumbfounded, and he started stuttering. "Err- yes, I mean… Why would you… What did..."

Levi rolled his eyes. „What was it about your father?" Levi interrupted, but it brought Eren back on track.

"Ehm. He told me, he won't be coming home today. And I don't think that calling me names will-"

Out of the blue Eren's nose was hit when the door slammed shut. It happened so fast, he didn't register Levi move.

 _What the hell is this guy's problem?,_ Eren thought angrily. Was that the way he treated his clients?

 _The less I have to deal with him, the better_. Eren was about to leave, when he heard Levi talking to someone.

"Yes, it's me. I heard about your continuing absence, so there's something, we have to discuss."

 _Had Levi called my dad?_

"There's an urgent matter I've to deal with personally and it does not allow any postponement. I've to leave the mansion this night. It'll only be for five or six hours and I'll provide a substitute." Levi paused as if he listened to whatever was said on the other side of the line.

Then: „A-all right, Mr. Yeager." He said, sounding surprised.

 _And did he just stutter?_

Eren had no idea what was going on, and all of a sudden Levi was in front of him again. „Listen, brat."

 _How the fuck did he know I was still here?_

"Tonight I'll be gone for up to five hours. In the meantime there'll be someone who supplants me but he won't take you anywhere. You and your little friends will stay here at this mansion. Nod, if you understand." Eren nodded, still clueless. "Good." And he was gone again.

 _What the hell just happened? Is it me or is he even pissier than usual? And who will his replacement be?_

Absently, Eren turned on his heels and headed down to the basement, knowing that Mikasa would be there without a doubt, following her morning routine. He tried to put his thoughts in order, but was still unsuccessful when he entered the pool area, where he found his sister swimming her laps. She noticed Eren immediately, and swum to the ladder where she had left her towel, got out and wrapped herself up. Eren approached her, still looking confused and fixing his eyes to the ground.

"Hey Mikasa," he greeted, "listen, I've to tell you something."

She kept standing next to the ladder, and Eren assumed she already knew what was going on. There would be another birthday where they had to stay at home while their father was miles away. All alone except for a still complete stranger.

And that was the moment Eren realized how wrong he was. The second he came up with a plan that would change Eren's life. Although he didn't know yet.

Levi wasn't going to be there tonight. He would switch place with another unknown guy and he surely wasn't going to hold an introduction. Which means that his replacement wasn't going to know how the three of them looked. So, if he was about to get in touch with them at all, he wouldn't notice if Eren replaced himself as well as Armin and Mikasa with some of the staff members. They could get out of the house without his father or Levi noticing as long as the employees helped them. And Eren had never asked them for any favour before. Additionally, it was Mikasa's birthday and he was friends with most of them, especially with the ones who mattered. So the chance that they'd understand their situation, mayhap feel with them a bit and help along, was relatively high. Eren's eyes brightened up when he finally looked at his sister.

"Eren, what's on your mind?" she asked sceptically.

"Tonight we're going to party!"


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Eren had everything set up. When he went around the mansion, inaugurating one employee after another, everyone agreed to lend them a hand. Although Mikasa wasn't thrilled about Eren's plan, the promise of getting out without some watchdog following their every step was too tempting, even for her. Eren convinced two of the younger housekeepers as well as a maid to stay in their rooms, so Eren could tell Maria that they weren't feeling well and going to bed early, while they actually were hiding in the basement. Levi had told him a few hours ago that he would leave the villa at eleven o'clock which they were waiting for right now.

"I don't know, Eren, what do we do when someone changes their mind and tells on us or Levi or this other guy catches us? Maybe we should cancel the whole thing," Armin worried.

Eren expected nothing else from his best friend, but after hearing it for the fifth time in only an hour, he got annoyed. "Easy for you to say since you only stay here for three month before returning to high school. Mikasa and I have to stay here, and who the fuck knows when such an opportunity occurs again? Especially since our father received those fucking letters. If he freaks out about something like this, what do you think's gonna happen if they never catch the guy who wrote them? In worst case scenario, Mikasa and I will never ever be able to leave the house again till we reach our thirties. Moreover, we are nineteen years old and none of us have seen the inside of a club or bar while everyone else on this planet is partying their asses off. I just want us to get a little bit of normality, and since I've known you for about ever, I want you to be part of it. This will become a great story! Mikasa, what do you say?"

Mikasa's gaze was set on the outside, looking at the driveway that led from the security gate up to the house. "I say, he's coming."

Eren and Armin directed their eyes to the property's entrance. It opened, and a black car drove up to the house, halting between the building and the fountain. The man getting out had a much older appearance than Levi, small eyes, pronounced wrinkles, and slightly curly, brown hair styled in an undercut. He somewhat gave the impression as if he was trying to resemble Levi. He even pulled down his eyebrows in a similar condescending manner.

 _Doesn't look as good as on the original._

He approached Levi, who was already standing in front of the main door, and the two men shared a few words Eren couldn't hear. Only moments later, Levi got in the car while his pal marched inside the house. The three teens waited for Levi to leave the grounds, and then Eren and Mikasa actuate the garage door and pushed out two motorcycles Eren had borrowed from the guards who were on shift tonight. Eren sat up on one of them while Mikasa took the other one with Armin sitting right behind her.

"Here we go," Eren whispered when they drove as silently as possible up to the gates. They passed the guards Eren had convinced, and pulled on the lonesome street heading towards London's city centre.

The night was clear, but also freezing cold. They flew above the greyish asphalt, surrounded by green hills which started to look like ocean waves due to their fast speed. Eren closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath. This was going to be a night to remember. He had to do it for his sister. For himself. He wanted them to forget that they were locked up at home, that their father was rarely around, and that they were left with nothing but themselves.

It took them about an hour to reach the city limits, and they continued their way downtown until they got into the nightlife scenes. Jumping off the bike, Eren looked around. Life was dancing everywhere, from the sights, the sounds of the people who passed by on the street to the pounding sounds coming from the buildings around them. Eren was enthralled with the prospect of meeting people. People that didn't work for his father or gave shit about his safety.

He rushed down the sidewalk, followed by his friends. Mikasa was trying to get a hold of him, but he was already drunk on the atmosphere. Soon enough, his mind occupied by the entirety of it all, he found myself in a location full of nightclubs and bars. The sounds of music poured through the air.

"Eren, what are we going to do now?" his sister caught up and asked him while Armin clung to her arm. Eren's attention was drawn upon one of the clubs that was plain black from the outside in contrast to all the other ones with their flashy signs.

"Let's get in there," he pointed straight ahead and started walking again. There wasn't any staff that controlled who was coming in, so the three of them walked right in.

Entering the nightclub, Eren was enthralled by the amount of people. He had never seen so many people in one place in his entire life. The club was dark and multi-coloured lights danced across people in waves like an ocean of colours. The smells of alcohol and illegal substances filtered through his senses. Eren wasn't apt for drugs, but one drink couldn't hurt, could it?

"Wait here for a sec, I'll be right back," Eren yelled to his friends, weaving his way through the throng of people and keeping his eyes locked on the bar that centred the crowd.

Finally getting through the masses, he tried to wave down a bartender, but the few that were actually working didn't seem to find the young brunette worth the time to make him a drink. Sighing, Eren pulled out a hundred euro note from his wallet and waved it. At once, a female with tattoos and long red hair made her way up to him.

"Hey sweetheart, what can I do for you?" she said, winking at him.

Yelling over the music, Eren answered: "Hey, I'd like you to make me three drinks of your liking and is there a possibility I can rent one of these booths?" He mentioned towards the areas that were shut off the dance floor with red and golden ropes. "Me and my friends have a birthday to celebrate, and it'd be pretty uncomfortable to have to stay amidst all these drunk, wavering people for the whole night." The waitress leaned upon the bar, presenting her well owned chest to him and putting on a relaxed smirk.

"Honey, if you want me to do something to my liking, I'd have to do you." There was this wink again, and then she looked up and down his figure. "And about that booths, I'm afraid you're lacking the necessary change to rent one of them."

 _Say what, she wants to play this game, doesn't she?_

Fine, Eren knew how to. He pulled his credit card from his pocket, presenting it to her between index and middle finger. He might've been a prisoner in his own home, but his father certainly made sure his children didn't lack anything material. What also included an outrageous amount of allowance. Taking the card from him, she went to the card reader and her eyes went wide because of whatever it told her. Her nasty smirk grew even wider as she came back to him.

"Alright, Honey, you and your sweet friends can take the third one on the left side and I'll be bringing your drinks in no time. If there's anything else I can delight you with, no matter what, just raise your hand and I will come for you. Women, alcohol, the crazy shit, I can supply you with whatever your heart desires."

Eren nodded, took his card back from her and went back to Mikasa and Armin. No wonder there weren't any gorillas controlling who entered the club. There was so much illegal shit going on, minors were their slightest problem if they got busted. And judging by the customers that rented the others booths, this business was swamped with money. Eren got the idea that one of the other clubs might have been better suited this night since it was their first time going out. But well, if there was anything going to happen, Mikasa would be perfectly able to beat the shit out of anyone who caused trouble for her, and Eren himself wasn't as bad at fighting. He certainly could take out some high and drunk bastard, if necessary. Armin would just have to stay behind the two of them.

Eren got back and led them to their booth where the female barkeeper already waited to serve them their drinks. On her plate she balanced a fancy looking cocktail in a high glass with fruits and little umbrellas decorated around the edge and two double walled glasses in a tumbler form with brownish liquid in them. Of course she didn't miss the chance to lean against Eren when she placed the last glass on the table, pressing her chest to his arm and whispered something in his hear, Eren couldn't understand due to the music's high volume. He only got that it had been something frivolous again, so he wasn't exactly sad about not hearing it entirely. Not, that she wasn't attractive in her own kind of shady way, but her whole impression was way too fake for his liking.

While Mikasa and Armin eyed their drinks and silently agreed on Armin taking the colourful cocktail that sure was meant to be for the girl on the table, Eren took a huge sip of the brown fluid in front of him. He felt it burning down his throat, leaving a smoky taste in his mouth. He had to cough a few time since he wasn't used to hard liquors and didn't even knew exactly what he was drinking, but he ordered another one right away, nevertheless. And another one after that. He was so overwhelmed by the scenario around him, by all those people shamelessly rubbing against each other, drowning in the music and not caring about tomorrow that he didn't even noticed right away how uneasiness grew among his two friends. Armin's worried expression deepened over time, Mikasa went into surveying mode and while they haven't barely said a word for half an hour, Eren was constantly babbling about how ingenious his idea had been and how fed up he was with their situation at home. The alcohol showed his first effects since he started to slur a little and felt himself loosen up. He then felt Mikasa tipping his shoulder and leaning towards him in an attempt to be heard.

"Eren, I don't know if we really should stay here. This seems way too much for a first time experience. Maybe we should go home, I can tell that Armin isn't feeling too comfortable either."

Eren took a look at his best friend and saw him chewing on his lip while staring into his still fully filled cocktail glass. To be honest, Eren didn't want to go home. So he had to find a way to make this enjoyable for all of them. He had to come up with another idea.

And after a few glances around the area, he got one. There was something missing, so he jumped up and flew towards the dancing area. He saw that Mikasa was about to go after him, but he already had stopped only a mere feet away. He looked for a few nice looking girls from the sidelines of the dancing crowd.

One moment later he was back, and had invited them into their sitting area where they were at once on Armin, touching and admiring him for his feminine looks. Armin himself didn't seem to mind, as Eren could tell by the his smile and the furious blush on his cheeks. Eren found his way out of the girls' crowd and pulled Mikasa on the dance floor. He started to dance, and tried to encourage her to do so as well. He threw his hands in the air, always attended by his brilliant smile, he tackled her, put his arms around her, and forced her to move. She still was cautious, but Eren could feel her losing up the tiniest bit and finally she was also smiling, although she looked at Eren as if he was out of his mind.

Twenty minutes later, they went back to Armin and the girls and Eren felt the urge to go to the bathrooms. Mikasa made attempts to go with him, but Eren was fast on his feet. His mind was clouded by the drinks he had, but apart from that, the way to the restrooms was ridiculously long and obscure. He almost feared to never find his way back.

When he finally saw the little stick figure, he was relieved to no end. He burst through the swing door, and was welcomed by two men making out on the sink. Well, at least Eren was hoping they were just making out, but since the man standing with his back towards him wore a dark parka, there was no way to tell how far things had gone underneath it. The other man was sitting on the marble, his legs parted with the other one fitting in-between and looked at Eren with lust filled eyes, his lips slightly parted. When the man in front of him licked along his carotid, he panted and pressed his head back into the nape of his neck.

Eren tried to ignore what he just saw and plunked himself in one of the cabins. He finished his business and went back out with his eyes tightly fixed to the ground. Following the path he thought he remembered, it took him only seconds to get lost. Everywhere were people around him, all the walls in the same black colour, and nothing that gave him a clue where in the club he was located. Eren felt panic begin to cradle in his stomach as he started rushing around, searching for a door that would hopefully bring him out into fresh air. From there he could walk around the club and re-enter through the front. The first three doors were locked, but eventually he found one that wasn't, so he pushed through and found himself at an impasse in the back of the club, right next to a huge container. He leaned forwards, placing his shaking hands on his knees and took a deep breath of air. It calmed his nerves a little, but only until he noticed that he wasn't alone in there.

Eren turned his head left and behind the container, at the end of the impasse, he saw a man with jet-black hair shaved in the neck and longer on top, dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top. His back was turned towards Eren, his waistband pulled down to his knees, along with his boxers. And he wasn't alone. Pressed between the man and the stone wall in front of him was a woman, moaning loudly every time the man's hips pushed against her. Much to Eren's blessing, since he found himself unable to move even if they'd turn around and saw him, they were too involved in their activity to notice him.

Eren didn't dare to breathe anymore. His eyes were glued to the scene in front of him, to the man's lean, defined frame – to his hips repetitively flexing against the woman. She was murmuring "oh god, oh god!" over and over into the bricks while pressing back against him, as loud and uncontrolled as he was silent. It was disturbing to watch something so raw and intimate, but to Eren it was also absolutely mesmerizing. His eyes focused on the man's backside. The way those round perky cheeks contracted and relaxed in the same rhythm as his hips thrust forwards left his mouth dry. With a jolt, Eren realized something. _He knew that man!_

Right in front of him, with his perfectly naked ass presented to him like on a dinner's plate, Levi was standing in this very alley, mercilessly fucking the living hell out of that woman in front of him. Eren felt the alcohol's effects flushing out of his system, and his senses went alert. He knew he should leave immediately, but he was too afraid to move. He only had to step the wrong way and something would creak, alerting Levi to his presence.

Their movements were speeding up. The woman's gasps shifted into hard cries as Levi threw his head back and drove even faster and more ruthlessly against her than before. It was too much for Eren to comprehend, and unwittingly he stumbled a step back. Which immediately made him loose balance, fall flat on his ass, right into the door he just came out from a few seconds ago and all that with a loud and unmistakable 'DONG!'.

Fear took over Eren's mind. As fast as he could he stumbled to his feet, inside the club, and just kept running ahead till he saw the other end of the bar where he had met that flirty bartender. Turning around and relieved to no end that Levi wasn't on his heels, he went around it and finally found the booth Armin and Mikasa were sitting in with a couple of new people who obviously tried to coax both of them into some wicked activity their minds came up with. Eren rushed up to them. "Listen, we have to go. Like NOW!" Eren yelled.

"Why, what happened, Eren?" Armin's eyes widened in worry.

"There's no time for explaining, we must leave, please!" Eren coughed. Not only he was deeply irritated by the profound insights he got about Levi's love life, there still was the fact that the guard they tried to get away from, was right there at very same club with them. And if he'd find them, all of them would get a bucket of problems. So Eren couldn't come up with another solution than getting back as fast as they could. He grabbed Mikasa's and Armin's wrists and dragged them outside the club.

When they reached their bikes, Mikasa stopped him. "Eren, what the hell? What happened that you're in such a rush? This whole thing was your idea, so please let me take part in whatever's going on in that stupid head of yours?"

"He's here, okay? I saw Levi behind the club, we have to get back before he notices us!"

"What were you doing behind the club?" "What's he doing here?" Armin and Mikasa asked simultaneously. Eren blushed crimson red, trying to avoid the second question.

"I was looking for the restrooms, but the way was too fucking complicated, so I ended up there and the hell should I know, why he's here, he just is!" His friends eyed him with suspicion, but Mikasa decided to drop the topic until they were back home.

"Fine, then let's hurry. Eren, are you able to drive? You had a few more drinks, didn't you?"

"I'm alright, please let's leave this place."

They jumped on their bikes and spurted like the devil himself was tracking them. The whole ride back home, Eren couldn't get the images of Levi pressed against that woman out of his head, so he was luckily, the streets were almost empty. Otherwise he certainly would have caused an accident caused by his lack in concentration.

In less than an hour they arrived back home, briefly informing the guards that let them pass with their motorcycles. Eren and Mikasa parked them back in the garage and then they waited for Levi and his replacement to switch places. This would be their chance to go back to their rooms without anyone noticing it. It was almost four in the morning, so it shouldn't take long for Levi to come back. They crouched behind one of the vans and Eren knew, his friends still were irritated by his odd behaviour. Sure, it would had been annoying to be caught, but what was left for their father to do to them as a punishment? Basically they already were caught up at home and he couldn't prohibit Mikasa to train, since it served her security which he was so anxious about. So all that was left was forbidding Eren to use his studio. Which would be a pain in the ass, but nothing more. So there was no logical explanation for his actions. Sure, there was, but Eren didn't tell them about what he saw. Hell, he himself couldn't even put the finger on what it was that confused him so much. Yes, he was still a virgin, how could it be any different, but it wasn't as if he'd never seen two people humping each other. He had internet and a high-speed laptop, so guess what a teenage boy does when he is alone in his room. But he had never seen it live and even less someone he knew doing it.

Well, kind of knew. All he knew about Levi was that he worked for this Smith-guy, that his father hired him to protect him and his sister, and that he obviously prioritized his love life above his work. Eren got mad at the last thought. He recalled what Levi said to his father through the phone. _An urgent matter, he has to deal with personally and it doesn't allow any postponement, my ass!_

He just sneaked out to go fuck a random girl behind some dirty club. Or maybe he knew that woman? Eren felt worry built up inside of him, but again couldn't lay a finger on the reason of it. It doesn't matter whether he knew her or not. Fact stayed that he neglected his obligations towards him and his family. If he would tell his father about it, they would definitely get rid of Levi. But then again, he would have to have to confess that they also neglected their father's orders.

Eren decided to himself that it wasn't worth it. His train of thoughts stopped when he saw the spotlights of the car Levi left the property with earlier this evening. It drove in front of the short staircase that led up to the house, and Levi got off it the mere second the driver stopped the vehicle. Eren didn't trust his eyes, but Levi had changed into a suit and seemed to be even stronger than before. There was an almost healthy vibe coming off from him, and Eren wondered if he was the only one noticing it.

The way his friend's expression didn't move the tiniest bit, the answer was no. Perhaps it was the remaining alcohol that fogged his already upturned mind.

Mikasa gave the sign to move when Levi's replacement stepped out the entrance hall, and a bright cone of light hit Levi's figure. All three spurted out of the garage into the training area and upwards to their rooms. Gladly, there was a second way up to the first floor that doesn't lead through the entrance hall, otherwise Eren's plan hadn't worked out at all. They said their fast good-nights and each one headed to their rooms, switching places with the employees that impersonated them.

Eren thanked the housekeeper that was in his room a thousand times before letting him out and crawling under his blanket. His mind was still in turmoil, the scenes he watched not leaving his head once. Why it bothered him so much, he didn't know. That weird feeling inside his stomach Eren got the second he watched Levi move behind that woman was still lingering. He seemed to be pretty good at what he was doing to her, Eren wondered. He slapped his hands on both sides of his face to stop himself from thinking. Not, that it worked the slightest bit.

 _Okay, seriously. I need to take at least a nap or father will wonder why the hell I look like a damn mummy, when he gets back tomorrow. Today. Whatever._

Eren closed his eyes, but as soon as those images continue to play before his inner eye he knew, he wouldn't get any sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

Levi went up the steps that led to the front door, approaching Olou, who was standing in front of it. The smell of that woman still lingered on him and it sickened him.

"Were there any complications while I was gone?"

"Not a single one," Olou said while pushing away from the door, "I didn't even get a glimpse of any of those brats. That elderly woman told me they weren't feeling well, maybe caught a flu or something stupid like that, so they went to bed early."

That caught Levi's attention. He rushed past Olou, and threw the door shut right in his face as he was turning around to get the thanks he thought he deserved.

 _You should know better._

"Oh yeah thank you Olou, how very nice of you to come the whole fucking way out here to take my place, it is always a pleasure to see you." Levi heard the other man speaking to himself on the other side.

He went straight up to his bedroom, switching on the TV and choosing the channels where he saw the cameras recording. A few employees were still wandering around the hallways, but all three kids were in their rooms, lying still in their beds.

More or less still. The green eyed-boy was throwing himself from one side of his bed to the other, apparently having trouble falling asleep.

When Levi was in that impasse with that filthy woman, he could have sworn that he had caught a trace of the boy's scent. But what were the odds of him getting out of the house without anyone noticing it and then running into him at the very same club? So Levi had shrugged it off as something his head came up with since the boy's smell was pretty good turn on.

He watched Eren trying to fall asleep, but then remembered that he still had to take a shower. Like, dreadfully had to take a shower to get rid of this woman's filth. Although it didn't help much to calm his mind, at least she hadn't had any diseases like most of the other possibilities he'd found at the club.

Still, this whole matter nauseated him, but there was nothing he could do about it. And now that he'd taken care of it, some time should pass until he had to bother with it again.

He switched off the TV and walked inside the bathroom, taking off his clothes and folding them neatly on the small drawer beside the shower. When he looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink, he saw that there was still blood on the right side of his throat. Twisting his face in disgust, he stepped inside the shower and turned on the hot water, he needed so badly. When he felt it running down his chest together with every other kind of body fluid that had covered him underneath his clothes, his muscles relaxed thanks to the heat, and he rested his head on the still cold tiles he deep cleaned during the day. He stayed in the shower until the room was fogged with steam, before starting to scrub his body with a bar of soap, purifying each pore till he was satisfied with his degree of cleanliness.

It took him half an hour.

He finished and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and rubbing his hair dry with another one. Re-entering his bedroom, he laid down on the king size bed and wondered if Erwin had made any progress in finding the guy that caused Levi to be in this house. It hadn't been long since his arrival, but he would have expected at least a few new information by now. But that's how things were. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do for him but wait. He took Miller's book from the nightstand, and started to read the last few chapters before falling asleep with it.

* * *

When Levi woke up the next morning, his nose was filled with the delicious smell of steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish and other dishes like fermented soy beans and vegetables. His stomach made itself noticed, so he went to the bathroom to take another quick shower before getting dressed, and jogged down to the dining room. Mr. Yeager had arrived this morning and was sitting on one end of the large dining table with all three kids around him. The table was laden with all sorts of Japanese dishes, and the fine smell of freshly brewed jasmine tea hung in the air. Levi couldn't resist entering the room, and was met by four pairs of eyes set on him.

"Ah Mr. Levi, how are you today? Do you mind keeping us company? We're celebrating Mikasa's nineteenth birthday, and Maria delighted us with this opulent meal. Please, have a seat." Right on point, the elderly housekeeper entered the room with another set of tableware that she demonstratively put down right in front of where Levi was standing.

 _Doesn't seem like an actual option._

 _And fuck, the food smells delicious_.

Maria poured some hot tea in his cup, a pleased expression on her face when he finally sat down and looked at all the food, much of which he remembered his mother preparing for him when he was still young. Mr. Yeager reverted to talking to his children while Levi took some of the dishes on his plate and started eating. He would have been fine with pretending as if he wasn't there, if only there hadn't been a pair of eyes he felt piercing through one side of his face.

That brown-haired brat had the brass neck to observe him from out of the corner of his eyes while pretending to follow the conversation between Mr. Yeager and the blond boy. And Levi wasn't the only one noticing it. The girl sitting on the opposite side of the table also looked leerily back and forth between her brother and Levi. Although she did it in a way more subtle manner than her brother.

As the boy didn't stop for another few minutes, Levi grew annoyed. He imitated his actions and fixed his stare right back at him from the corner of his eyes. The brat visibly swallowed and blushed, reverting his eyes in front of him, only to get caught a second time by his sister this time. His cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, and he lowered his view to his lap. Levi smelled the air getting filled with tension steaming off of the boy.

He didn't know why, but the brat was off. Not only did he look like a corpse by the way his eyes were sunken into his skull, accompanied by heavy circles underneath them, but he also appeared to be highly irritated by something. It couldn't only be caused by his lack of sleep, Levi thought, there had to be something else. And he wouldn't give a fuck, hadn't it be so obvious that every time the brat tried another attempt to look at him, it seemed to get worse. _What the fuck is his problem all of a sudden?_ While the situation went entirely unnoticed by the other two participating at the table, Levi finished his meal, and went up to his room again.

He sat down in the chair in front of the window, eyeing the outside for a while before he grabbed the book to read the last pages and finally end it. Erwin was right when he said it wouldn't fit Levi's taste. But come in, who cares about some boring as fuck struggling writer who describes his experience living among a community of Bohemians in Paris where he suffers from hunger, homelessness, squalor, loneliness and despair over his recent separation from his wife. To Levi, he was a wimp. But at least he knew now what Erwin was talking about the other day when he wouldn't stop referring to this stupid book. Levi closed the pages, and stood to go to the library to bring it back. He left his room, walked along the hallway up to the last door, and stepped inside the library.

And as if he hadn't seen enough of him for one day, he found the boy in front of one of the bookshelves, looking for something. When he turned around, the kid's face paled in contrast to his usually tanned skin. If Levi had a sense of humour, he would've laughed. But since he was still right in his mind, instead he glared at the shocked expression the boy was giving him.

"Calm it, I need to put this back in its place." He raised the book to emphasise what he was talking about.

When the boy didn't answer, he merely approached him since the kid was standing exactly underneath the empty space Levi had gotten the book from. He failed to come up with an explanation to what he had done and why the brat was acting so weird when he was around, but then he got an idea of how make a bit of fun of it. Maybe he could tease the brat a little.

With every step bringing him closer to the brat, he saw him getting more tense until he stopped right in front of him, and whispered in a dark voice: "Will you move already?"

The boy's eyes fixed on his, but he didn't make an attempt to shy away from him. Quite the opposite, actually. He crossed his arms over his chest, and settled more comfortably against the bookshelf, an obviously fake smirk playing around his full lips.

 _Is this piece of shit seriously challenging me? Bad decision, brat._

If that kid didn't happen to be his object to take care of and the son of his customer, he would've beat the shit out of him without a single thought, thrown him on the ground, and used his back as a step. But unfortunately, that was exactly the case. So he had to resort to the psychological line.

 _Let's see how much of me you can handle in your state of mind._

Levi stepped forwards. "Fine," he said and reached up to put the book back into place. His hand didn't quite reach the space yet. So he stepped closer.

* * *

And closer.

The smirk on Eren's face fell off as, without warning, he was gifted with a very close up view of Levi's nape.

 _Is he standing on his toes?_

Eren wanted to look down, but then he would've come into contact with the man in front of him. Eren's mouth went dry and swallowing hard, he fought the urge to squirm as Levi moved even closer.

 _Oh dear god_ , he smelled incredible. The scent of discrete soap and an underlying touch of dark spices wafted into Eren's nose as he pressed himself back against the books. _This had been a bad idea_ , Eren realized. Since he still hadn't a clue about his own behaviour, and why those images from last night wouldn't leave his mind up to the point where sleep seemed to be a faraway opportunity he won't have the pleasure to get a hold of for quite some time, he just wanted to test the waters a little and see how he would react to Levi being closer to him.

The man was almost sandwiching him against the shelves, precious few centimetres separating them. Turning his face away, Eren had to fight the even more insane urge to grab a handful of Levi's shirt, bury his face in the man's nape, and inhale deeply.

 _Damn it, what's wrong with me? He's just some fucking guy!_

Eren blushed furiously at his bad choice of words, and closed his eyes when he felt Levi sliding a leg between his own for leverage.

 _Dear lord…_

Trying to control his breathing, Eren glanced at Levi. The man's face was set on him, a knowing look in his eyes, and Eren's heart began pounding as he placed a suddenly sweaty palm flat against the books. Every bone in his body was screaming to get away, but it was too late. Levi's face turned away from him, and when he looked up to that empty space he was reaching for, Eren abruptly found himself flattened against the shelves, Levi's entire length pressing against him. Embarrassingly enough, a small squeak slipped free from his lips as his rapidly freezing brain registered the feel of Levi's firm and toned body pressing against him.

Eren swallowed a second time, his face being pressed against the other man's ear and neck, but before his panic could break the surface, Levi was already stepping back and turning towards the door. Eren's eyes flicked up, looking at the neatly placed book on the high shelf, and then flew back to the man leaving. The raven stepped out of the room without looking back at Eren for even one moment. Eren felt his heart racing so fast that he feared it would jump right out of his chest any second and follow Levi wherever he was heading to. Why was he reacting so strongly to his presence?

He kept standing there for several more minutes before he was able to move again. His legs wobbly, he went to the chaise lounge, sat down, and buried his face in his hands. Whatever caused Eren's reactions, he had to stay away from Levi until he'd figured it out. He was pretty certain that his heart wasn't going to make it if he ended up in such a situation again.

Now the lovely film that kept playing in his head ever since last night was accompanied by an even closer-up one and very precise impression of the man's scent.

 _Fucking perfect…_


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

A few days elapsed, and Eren avoided Levi like the plague. It was almost night and he was sitting in his studio, still trying to combine his cords in a way that didn't sound disharmonic. So far, he had only ever played songs from his favourite bands, but now he wanted to compose a song himself. And it was more difficult than he expected. Not only the notes; his worst problem was the lyrics. He couldn't come up with a subject he wanted to sing about. So he just played single cords over and over, hoping that the music itself would inspire him. But it failed horribly even after another hour he spent for nothing.

Deciding that it was enough for the day, he switched to his bedroom and laid down on the cool sheets. He wasn't tired, but he knew he had to go to bed since his math teacher would come by early in the morning tomorrow. And if Eren already were bad at math with his mind pulled together, he was even worse when he hadn't gotten enough sleep. It would be a total waste of time for him as well as for the teacher. After another twenty minutes and his eyes still not shutting, he fall back to one of his older solutions for a problem like this.

He snatched his laptop from the foot of his bed, turned it on, and opened some random porn website that first came to his mind. A good old rub off never failed to get him tired, and was exactly what he needed now.

He scrolled through the front page, and chose one video whose preview showed a reasonably attractive chick getting fucked from behind. He laid his laptop next to himself, and grabbed inside his boxers. He wasn't hard yet, but Eren started to stroke alongside his shaft nevertheless, slowly building up his erection. With his free hand he skipped the whole foreplay bullshit until he saw the guy doing her on a couch. Shortly after, they switched into a standing position, and he was fucking her with her face turned towards him.

It didn't quite catch Eren's attention, so he was about to change to another video when he saw the guy turning her around and pressing her face into the wall in front of her. The tiniest of sparks shot through Eren's spine and inside his growing member, and he bucked his hips into the air. He kept watching the couple moving together, their speed rising until he was mercilessly thrusting into her, their breaths racked. Eren closed his eyes as his arousal also rose, and he began to pant.

The second his eyes shut, those all too familiar pictures invaded his clouded mind. Although he was no longer looking at his laptop's display, he still saw a man standing behind a woman, fucking her into a wall. In an impasse whilst vibrating bass beats filled his ears. In the distant, he heard them panting and slapping against each other. The scene in front of him started to come closer to him and Eren slowly recognized what, or to be more precise, who he was watching in his mind. The man with the black hair styled in an undercut and that perfectly rounded backside was the very same man that pressed him into the library's bookshelves just mere days ago.

The scene in Eren's mind started to shift, and he was no longer watching Levi in that dark impasse. He was rather back in the library, his face pushed against a row of books while warm breaths hit the back of his neck and elegant but firm fingers snuck around his waist, inside his trousers.

 _Oh god, this is almost too good._

Eren's erection twitched in his hand as his thoughts kept running wild. This was so much more intense than anything else he'd ever felt before while pleasing himself, and Eren didn't want it to stop. In his mind, Levi touched him through his boxers, before his hand slipped inside the thin cloth and he began to milk his dick in strong strokes from the base to the very tip while his other hand kneaded one side of Eren's ass.

Two digits pushed between his lips, leaving the taste of dark spices and freshly cleaned skin on his tongue, and Eren desperately tried to swallow it. He felt the man behind him pushing his pelvis into the side of Eren's ass he wasn't grabbing, and his stone hard member poking him. The hand that cupped his butt cheek made its way around Eren's waist, joining the other to unbuttoned his jeans, pulling them down in one swift motion. With his erection liberated from any restrainment, Levi had free access to every part of him and _oh_ , he made use of it. While one hand continued pumping him, speeding up to a savagely pace, the other wrapped around his balls, working them simultaneously with his strokes until Eren's breath became racked, leaving his lips in an unrhythmic pace.

Hopelessly captured in his fantasy, Eren didn't realize what he was doing. A name left his mouth in a whisper, and slowly it developed into a moan.

"Oh fuck, Levi... yes, please don't stop. Oh god, Levi."

Eren hissed at the sensation of his rough palm against his erection, and grabbed a fistful of the sheets that had started to soak in sweat, letting out a long groan. Combined with the pictures in his head, it sent shocks up and down his spine. He was getting so hard, it almost pained him to keep thrusting while his voice didn't stop getting louder and louder and finally he let out one single strangled cry, coming all over himself.

"Fuck yes, **_Levi_ **!"

* * *

Only one room further, Levi wasn't capable of forming clear thoughts anymore. The whole floor reeked of arousal, and he knew exactly which of these damn teenage fuckers was the reason for it. The green-eyed boy next door must be having the time of his life judged by the smell he emitted. Not that it smelled bad… quite the opposite, to be honest. But it was distracting as fuck.

 _That's what you get for having shitty hormone driven teenagers around you_ , Levi thought annoyed.

Although his fine nose provided him good services on most of his missions, at times like these he despised it like nothing else. Not only was it irritating like hell to get a far too clear impression for Levi's liking of what the people around him were feeling, but it also was the main reason he'd have to be here in this house. Because of this ability, he would know the very second someone with negative emotions approached them. The less people around, the clearer his senses got. And since this property was mostly stuffed with friendly people who cared about the family they were working for, he would recognize someone with a different emotional pattern immediately.

He continued to scrub the surface of the windowsill, trying to distract his mind from this obtrusive scent that was all around him when all of a sudden he was pulled out of his work.

He heard the boy next door scream his name. " **_Levi_ **!"

... _Shit!_

Without wasting a single thought, he dropped the cleansing cloth he held and slammed out the door. It wasn't possible that the guy they were after succeeded in coming here without Levi even noticing it.

It just wasn't fucking possible!

In horror of failure he was running down the corridor, and threw the boy's door wide open. His eyes scanned every corner of the room, trying to take in the situation. But all he saw was the brat lying in his bed, not a single trace of any other being in the room. He already heard the other residents approaching, so glancing in every direction he walked towards the presumed victim.

"What the fuck's going on here?" Levi asked with a hard face. It barely took him a second, but to him it felt like an eternity until he understood what had happened in this room. He saw the boy pulling his blankets up to his chin, one of his hands covered in a sticky clear fluid, and while the otherwise tasty smell of his arousal still lingered in the air, most of it was overdrawn by pure embarrassment. It also was written all over the boy's face, in those wide depths of dark green that Levi didn't get tired of staring into.

Although they were burning with a beautiful chaos at this very moment, Levi found a deep tranquillity when he looked into them. As if he was walking underneath treetops of ancient pines and his way led him right to the banks of a quietly laying pond amidst the peaceful forest that captured all the surrounding shades of green with his own bluish water, mixing it up to a colour Levi had never seen before his entire life.

As Eren started a miserable attempt to reply to Levi but hardly managed a stutter, Levi was ripped out of his thoughts and shock settled on his facial features.

"Did you-," he began, but before Levi could finish his question, Mr. Yeager already entered the room, followed by his daughter and the little blond boy,gasping for breath and looking horrified for a whole different reason.

"Eren, are you okay? What the hell happened to you?" he panted.

Before Levi even realized he was moving, he turned towards the crowd standing in the door and his mouth acted on its own.

"He had a nightmare," Levi blurted out. _Aha_. "Seems like this whole situation is wearing off on him."

He walked up to the confused looking group, and discreetly pushed them backwards through the door frame.

 _What the fuck am I doing here?_

There was no need for him to cover for the brat. Why not let him explain that he just jagged off to his bodyguard? But Levi couldn't. He didn't know if he felt sorry for the pitiful boy that evidently became attracted to someone like him, or if he didn't want the others see him the way he currently was. Although neither of those explanations Levi considered a valid reason for his doing, he believed it to be a combination of both. Right now, it didn't matter to him.

When he finally forced everybody out of the room using his own body as a shield, he closed the door behind himself. "I think it's best to let him get a full night of proper sleep, and tomorrow he'll be good as new." He saw the black-haired girl eyeing him with even more distrust than usual. She knew something was off.

 _No wonder_ , Levi thought. He knew he was acting extremely out of character. The way she looked at him almost reminded him of himself.

Mr. Yeager seemed so share his daughter's disbelief, but before either of them could say anything, Levi heard a voice coming from the room. "I'm alright, guys. It's like he's said. A nightmare, nothing more. Sorry for the uproar."

The crowd relaxed, and Mr. Yeager said: "Alright, seems like everything's under control, no need for worries. Let's all calm down and get a well-earned night of sleep. Come on, kids, let's get back to bed everyone." In a shooing manner he ordered everyone to get back to their rooms, then said his own goodnight to Levi, and patted him on the shoulder. It took Levi everything he got not to rip the whole limb off for the unpermitted touch, but somehow he managed.

He waited a few more moments till he was sure no one would try to come back. Which had been a good call. Before she even turned the corner, Levi already smelled the scent of depthless mistrust. Something he was becoming way too familiar with.

Mikasa stepped right in front of Levi, and looked him sharply in the eyes: "Step aside, shorty."

Levi leaned against the closed door and crossed his arms before his chest, signalling that he wouldn't let her in, his expressions threatening. "Didn't you hear, little girl? You should go back to your room."

"I want to see my brother." Her gaze didn't waver. Once again, Levi had to give her props for being resistant to his silent warnings. There weren't many of them.

Before Levi could give her a very graphic explanation of what will happen to her if she didn't turn around peacefully and go back to her room, he heard Eren speak again through the closed door. "I'm fine, Mikasa. Please just leave, I really want to be alone right now."

"But Eren, -"

"I said leave, damn it! Just let it be."

Levi saw her emotions shifting. She cared about her brother, that was obvious. And considering the worry in her eyes, her brother's behaviour seemed to be a new to her as well. Without paying him another glance, she turned on her heels and walked away to where she had come from.

Levi guessed this would've been the last attempt for the night to get into this room, and so he made his way into his own.

What did the fucking moron think he was doing? Laying in the very next room and fantasizing about him while rubbing himself off. He knew Eren was attracted to him the second their bodies touched back in the library since the smell of arousal mingled in his insecurity. It had been too subtle for Eren to realise right away, he guessed. So Levi had stopped his little game. They were playing on completely different grounds, so there was no point for him to keep it going. It was simply cruel to tease a not-knowing-anything-at-all little brat like him who might've just found out that he is attracted to his own gender. Regardless of the fact that the boy's scent got to him back then, too.

But how come he was fantasizing about him now? On top of that, he started to act weird even before their little encounter in the library. So, something must have happened before that. But Levi hardly had any contact to the brat till then.

Levi kept gruelling his mind, but didn't come up with anything.

He walked up to his duffel bag, pulled out his phone, and dialled Erwin's number.

After only two rings, he was on the phone. "Hey Levi, how're you?"

"Quit it, shithead. You know fucking well how I am since it's your fault I'm still fucking here. Are you kissing your ass too hard or are you actually working on getting new information about the cunt that should be coming for those punks I've to take care of?"

"Wow, your language enlightens me as always. I got a track of him but nothing worth telling you so far. Are these kids getting the better of you already or what's the reason for your moodiness this time?" Erwin chuckled down the line. Levi knew that Erwin had gotten used to his swearing, but it still pissed him off that he had the audacity to make fun of it.

"Shut the fuck up and tell me about the track."

"As you wish. One of my men saw him in Liverpool two days ago."

Levi waited but when the line kept silent, he cursed: "That's all you've got after over a whole fucking week?"

"I told you, it's nothing worth mentioning," Erwin calmly stated. Levi genuinely was getting tired of the day.

"Fine, contact me if there's anything new." Although Erwin was about to say something, Levi hung up. He went to his bed and let himself fall back on it. It was pitch dark outside, and the only source of light was the candle on his drawer. He watched the shadows dancing on the ceiling above him, and his mind wandered back to the boy lying next door. To the image of him sitting between the sheets, panting, his cheeks flushed, and his lips rosy and wet from saliva. Back then in that room, his mind was so occupied with defending against an eventual danger, it didn't strike him right away. But the boy looked delicious. With all the innocence and embarrassment written on his cute face and the fading desire in his eyes.

Still, Levi marvelled why the boy felt attracted to him. He knew he was good-looking since it hadn't been by any means the first time someone took an interest in him. But he also knew that looks didn't mean shit. As soon as they got a glimpse of his true being, all of them turned their backs on him. And he wasn't interested in anyone who only cared about his exterior. So it actually surprised him that this kid wasn't already deterred by his less than approachable character and his blunt manner of speaking.

But maybe the bad boy image was exactly what had caught his attention. There had been a lot of them, too. Strange thing was, Levi didn't take the boy for someone so superficial.

He felt his temples pounding, and reminded himself that it was far too late to still be wide awake. He didn't know what the little punk will come up with next, so he'd better be well-rested. He swung his legs up on the bed, and threw the blanket over his body. While listening to the crackles of the candle, exhaustion slowly took over Levi until he was fast asleep.

In his dream, he saw himself standing in front of a gigantic and thickly overgrown forest, the trees rising several meters into a stormy night.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

As Eren woke up the next morning he still chewed on last night's events. He knew it was wrong and beyond it, but damn him, never had anything felt as good as thinking about that man while touching himself. He started wondering what it might feel like when Levi were be the one touching him.

He might've never felt this way before, but he was no idiot. He knew what had hit him. He was attracted to Levi, that was for sure. So now he not only had to face the fact that he obviously was gay, but moreover the man he fell for wasn't. _Fucking perfect._

Eren cursed himself, got up, and went into the bathroom. Since last night extracted any remaining energy in his body, he had kept lying in his bed with the dirtied sheets still wrapped around him as well as his hand covered in the sticky mess. He stepped inside the shower and washed away the lingering result of his embarrassing outcome. As he finished he went back to his bedroom, pulled the sheets from his bed, and threw them in the laundry chute.

Last night also had been the first time Eren saw an emotion crossing Levi's otherwise perfectly stoic face. Sure, it wasn't every day you caught some young guy masturbating while thinking of you, but he didn't expect Levi to react the way he did. Well, he hadn't expected Levi to do anything at all since he didn't expect Levi in person, but yeah… and then there was that thing that he hadn't let anyone come into the room. _Was he trying to protect me? But why would he care?_ Eren was lost in thoughts once again when his eyes wandered to a stack of books at the edge of his desk. _Algebra_ , he read preoccupied.

…

 _FUCK!_ Eren snapped back to reality, grabbed an armful of books, and ran for the library.

* * *

That had been a waste of time. Like total. Not only was he was half an hour too late for his lesson, but the entirety of the remaining time, Eren spaced out looking at the damn bookshelves. The teacher even asked him if he might have a fever since his face continuously became as red as a tomato. So Eren had a lot of catching up to do or otherwise he would lag behind the curriculum. Last time this happened on a constant level, his father had given him one of his indoctrination, and Eren surely wasn't in need for another one. So better get it going. He sat down at his desk and tried to make any sense out of his tasks, but after thirty minutes of wrecking his brain, Eren plunged his head on the desk and crossed his arms above it. That way he wasn't getting anywhere. He stood up, grabbed the book, and headed for Armin's room. He already smelled the lunch Maria was preparing as he walked down the stairs and arrived at his friend's door. He knocked, and heard Armin inviting him in. With a defeated frown on his face Eren went over to the window where the blonde was sitting and playing a game of shogi against himself.

"Wouldn't it be more fun to play against someone?" Armin lifted his head, and gave Eren a warm smile.

"True, but there's no one around who's still willing to play against me."

"No wonder, since you defeated everyone within a range of twelve to fifteen moves."

Armin laughed out loud at that. "What can I do for you, Eren? Shouldn't you be in math class right now?"

Eren sighed. "Already done, but I don't get the heck of this integral calculus thing. Additionally, I was late, so we didn't have enough time to go over it again. So I wanted to ask you…?"

"No problem, sit down and I'll help you figure it out." The blonde grinned.

"This isn't the reason I came here. I've to stop relying on you with this shit. You won't always be around to help me out, so I've to find a way to beat it by myself."

Armin gave him those large crystal blue orbs, eyeing him worried. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I wanted to ask you whether you could recommend me a textbook for this topic. Or even better, a whole series of textbooks that helps me to understand school subjects myself. I know you probably read most of them."

Armin turned his face away, blocking Eren's view when he answered: "Sure, I can do that. But Eren," Armin paused, and his voice filled with sadness, "is everything okay with you? I don't know how to say it, but you seem off lately. Not just about our new house guest, but altogether."

Oh god, that wasn't the kind of conversation he came here for. But he knew Armin was right, being as sharp as ever, so there was no point in denying it. He was still his best friend and knew Eren better than most others. Perhaps even better than his sister since with Armin he could always talk about pretty much everything without worrying that he might think less of him. And Armin never failed to give him some kind of useful advice. Even so, Eren was a little frightened to tell him about his latest realization.

"I know I've acted weird lately. But what should I tell you, Armin? It's the same damn thing as ever, it only keeps getting worse. It's been five years since I've started complaining about having to stay at home like a goddamn prisoner. While everybody else on this stupid planet is able to build up their own lives, making friends and decisions and mistakes and all this stuff, Mikasa and I are locked up in here. Even you went to high school and every time you tell me about the campus, the people, the variety of thing you learn about on a daily basis, there's nothing more I wish for than to go with you. I'm getting sick seeing this walls every day. I want to visit different countries, learn languages I never heard of, and meet all kinds of different people. Same goes for Mikasa, I guess. What kind of life is it for an eighteen year old girl to stay put in one place with nothing to do than working out and training her fighting and shooting skills? It's not like there's a war coming up to prepare for. This is not how it's supposed to be. And ever since Dad received that stupid threatening letter we weren't allowed to leave the house alone at all. It slowly but steadily drives my nuts, Armin."

Armin listened quietly, but Eren could tell he knew that wasn't all. So he continued. "I don't want anyone to chew things up for me anymore. Life has become so freaking comfortable with people getting shit done for you that it's nothing but boring. So, if it only is a dumb math topic that I can get myself busy with for another dull day, then so be it. If I let you explain it to me, it'll only be an hour till I get it, but it would be just another example for things I can't do by myself. For one reason or another."

Eren firmly hoped that his best friend wouldn't take what he had said the wrong way. It had nothing to do with him. Quite the opposite, Armin was his only window towards the outer world. The first three days of every time he came by, Eren forced him to tell him every little detail about where he went, what he did and who he met. It was pathetic.

"Is that why you took a liking in Levi?" Armin asked with a straight face. Eren flushed at his crush's bare name, and internally cursed himself for it.

"W-what do you mean?" he stuttered, and if that didn't give him away already, his red face did for sure.

Armin's expression softened as he looked down. "Well, he isn't the type to handle someone with velvet gloves. I assume that's what you like about him. Although he works for you and is here to protect you, he never did a single thing to make you feel comfortable around him or make things easier for you. Furthermore, he might be an epitome of independence and freedom to you. He does and says what he wants to, goes wherever he wants to, and doesn't waste a single thought about what others are thinking. At least, I think so. The only exceptions seems to be Mr. Smith, for whatever reason."

Eren sat there in surprise, admiring how Armin always made it sound so easy to put someone's totally messed-up thoughts back in order. If he wouldn't follow in his grandfather's steps, leading his nation in strategy questions, Eren was sure he would make an excellent therapist. He was an outstanding listener, empathetic, and had the ability to see though people. So good, it got creepy from time to time.

Both of them kept sitting in silence for some more moments as Eren thought about what Armin just said. And yes, he had to admit, he didn't find Levi attractive only in a bodily context. Levi was downright cool as fuck as well. Eren always wanted to be like that. Not so much the grumpy part, but more the "free as the sky without anyone who tells him what to do and what not to"-part.

"You might be right," he admitted rather to himself than to his friend.

The blond boy flashed his teeth. "Of course, I'm right! When have I ever been wrong about something concerning you? And I think you should use his time being here. Since last night I doubt he's as unapproachable as he pretends to be. Maybe he can show you some aspects of life the others here on this property can't."

 _Did Armin seriously wink at me on the last part?!_

"Oh gosh, so you got what was going on?" Eren buried his face once more.

"Well, Levi isn't that tall, you know? He might've tried to block our views last night, but I got a very good glance at your flushed face. And more importantly, the fact that he even tried to keep us out says something, don't you think?"

Although their conversation had lifted Eren's spirits a bit, it all went down again. "Actually, I am pretty certain, it doesn't."

Armin cocked his eyebrow. "What makes you think so?"

"Because I saw him with a woman."

If Eren hadn't been this depressed by what he had said, he would have laughed at Armin's paled face. "What? When?"

"The night we snuck out. Beside the fear of getting caught, it was the real reason I was so irrational when coming back. I was looking for the way back to the two of you after I left the bathrooms, and by accident I landed on the streets behind the club. That's where I saw them."

"And when you say, you saw him "with" a woman, you mean…?"

"They were having sex."

The blonde looked out of the window, silent for a bit. "Maybe it doesn't mean anything. You won't know if you never try. And if you do get rejected, hey, so be it."

"That's easy for you to say… ."

Armin laughed again. "I thought that was what you wanted? Getting to know people and gain new experiences, acting on your own and stop relying on others. Making mistakes. Although in my opinion it wouldn't count as the latter. In any case, he seems to be your only possibility while you're caged up here. Better give it a try as long as he stays. If you make a fool out of yourself, he'd be gone and no one would care anymore."

It was a harsh way to put it, but Eren had to admit that his friend had a point. There wasn't much for him at stake.

"Sooo… you don't care that I am gay?"

Armin's face was answer enough already. "Oh please, as if I would care about such a thing. By the way, if you would've laid your eyes on me, I'm sure it would've happened a long time ago."

 _True enough._

"Oh, and the textbook series you asked about. I can recommend you one or two. But after you go grab them, make sure to come back to me. Now that you finally spoke your mind, I want you to keep me company for my time being here. I don't come here to be all by myself, you know? And after hammering integral calculus or whatever in your head, we're going to play one or two rounds of the new video game my grandfather sent me. I waited for you, so I haven't even touched it yet."

* * *

Eren left his friend's room, thinking about how selfish he had been. He was so caught up in his own stupid self-pity that he hadn't recognized how his actions affected those close to him. Armin was right. He came here to be with Eren, and Eren hadn't anything better to do than grumble. If he was honest with himself, even the whole sneaking out story wasn't meant for Mikasa's sake at all. She hadn't wanted to leave the house, and would've been fine with them going in the city with their father when he came back, and Eren knew it. Even so, he dragged her into some filthy and crowded club. He wanted to punch himself for it, but it wouldn't change a thing. The best he could do now was to get his things straight.

Starting with figuring that stupid math subject out, and interacting with Levi in a more healthy way. No more of the crazy stuff that happened the past days.

He went to his father's office, and knocked. "Dad, you in there?"

"Sure, come in, son."

Eren stepped in, and saw his father working on some documents. "What can I do for you?" Grisha asked.

"I wanted to ask you if I may drive into town. Guarded, of course. My math lessons didn't go well, so I asked Armin about a textbook he would recommend. I'd like to get it before we continue with the next subject or else I'll lag behind."

"Why not order it online? Wouldn't it be easier?"

"True, but in all honesty, I also want to take a break from nonstop sitting in this house. You know, to breath out even if it's just for a little bit."

"You know exactly why I don't want you kids to stay away from here."

Eren heard someone behind him clearing his throat. "But it shouldn't be a problem if I escort them all together, would it?" Levi approached so soundlessly, he seemed to be coming out of thin air. Which was kind of funny considering his powerful presence as soon as he marched into the room.

"Mr. Levi," his father addressed him, "you might be right, but I still think that we should cut the possibilities to a minimum."

"If you aren't confident in my skills, you shouldn't have hired me in the first place. But since I'm here, I don't see a problem in going out with them. Furthermore, you should consider that if you're trying to lock them in here for eternity, they might get the idea to sneak out, and end up totally unsecured. It'd be better if you let them run on the long string from time to time than losing them completely."

"My children would never," Grisha started, but Levi disrupted him.

"Yes, they would. Everyone would, especially kids their age. Already heard, already seen. And since your son had the guts to be honest with you, although he knew how you would respond, you should take his request serious."

Grisha stayed still for a moment, reconsidering. "Fine, but I want them to stay together, and you won't allow more than ten feet of distance between you."

Levi nodded and left the room. Eren followed, but as he was about the close the door, he addressed his father once more. "Oh, one more thing. You seem to have forgotten what you've promised Mikasa in exchange for not being here on her birthday. I just wanted to remind you."

With that, he left.

Eren caught up to Levi, trying hard keep his eyes away from the older man's backside. "Hey, thank you for your support. I couldn't have convinced him if you hadn't been there."

Levi stopped in his tracks, causing Eren to almost bump into him. "You aren't the only one who's bored as fuck, brat. There's nothing for me to do if you aren't attacked by some scum. So it's a relief for me, too."

"Even so, thanks." Eren scratched the back of his head, a shy smile on his lips. "So, is it okay if we leave in half an hour?"

Levi nodded, and then he was gone. One moment, he stood right in front of Eren and in a blink of an eye he was gone. Eren didn't even know in what direction he'd left. But he hadn't time to think about it too much.

 _I better get going and tell Armin and Mikasa._


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

Half an hour later, they sat in one of Grisha's limousines and were driven into the city of London. Although it was freezing cold outside, the sun shined high above the clouds and dipped the passing wide green into a beautiful bright light. Armin and Eren talked about the game they would play as soon as they got back home, and Mikasa busied herself keeping an eye on the shorter man sitting opposite her. Eren wondered what made Mikasa so suspicious of him. Sure, she had always been the type who mistrusted others, but in his case she was extending it to a new level. Eren hadn't seen them interacting at all, so what had Levi done to her?

It took them about two hours to arrive, and the car stopped in front of one of the city's largest bookstores. Armin jumped out and forced Eren to follow him close up by a strong hold on his wrist. When it came to books, Armin sure was unstoppable. Mikasa and Levi followed behind them, and all four entered the store. While Armin and Eren ran into the textbook department and Mikasa headed towards the CD boards, Levi looked for a nice place from where he could keep an eye on them. He found a rather comfortable looking armchair at the reading area, and took in his surroundings. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

Although there weren't too many people around since it was barely afternoon and the masses were still at work, Levi's nose caught all kinds different scents. Fact was that one emotion could smell very differently based on the individual, but at the base they were identical. It was like wearing a perfume. The liquid itself is the same, but worn by different people and influenced by their own scent and body heat, a perfume developed infinite possible variations of itself. All Levi had to do was "look" out for negative smelling ones.

If it were someone like him, a professional, who was about to kill someone, there would hardly be any negative emotions to detect since usually they wouldn't have a personal relationship with their victims. But in case of the particular man Levi was looking for, Erwin was one hundred percent sure that he would come for them himself. And he went to the trouble of writing ridiculous threatening letters, so Levi was certain that he must not be very smart to begin with, but also he would have those dark emotions when approaching Mikasa or one of her friends.

He noticed Eren walking towards and taking a seat next to him, but Levi didn't care to open his eyes. "You already done?" Of course, he wasn't. Levi smelled his nervousness. The brat wanted to talk.

"N-No, but there's something I want to ask you." As Levi didn't respond, Eren continued: "I'd like you to teach me how to defend myself. I think my dad would be less worried about me if he'd know that I'm capable of taking care of myself."

Levi now did look at the boy in front of him, and his face turned into an unconvinced frown. "Is your brain that lacking? If this would be the reason your father's pissing his pants about your whereabouts, then why would he still worry about your sister? As far as I can see she's built like a warrior and kills her time training like crazy. If you're looking for a way to let him relax the reins, good luck, but keep looking."

Eren dropped his eyes, and a blue expression settled on the boy's face. "Sure. Ahm, I – I'm going back to look for the book I came here for." He got up and left.

Levi didn't want to give him any ideas of trying to get near to him. Although he had to admit that it nagged him seeing those beautiful eyes clouded with sadness. It made them look smudgy, blurred and greyish. But, it was those eyes he had to be beware of. The way they made him feel when he looked into them concerned him.

He saw Eren leaving the store, his blond friend walking right next to him. Levi stood up to follow them when out of nowhere he caught the smell of anger and inner turmoil coming from their direction. He rushed to the door to see what had happened, and saw them standing in the shadows of another store with a bunch of guys in their mid-twenties.

It didn't take him long to figure what was going on. He saw Armin next to an intimidated-looking young woman with her arms crossed protectively above her upper body while the blond boy tried to sooth her, and Eren standing tall in front of the men who had their backs to Levi. He saw that Eren's eyes were wide open with furiousness in them as he tried to snatch a handbag held by one of the guys behind his back. He was a good head taller than Eren, but that didn't stop the boy from trying. Their dispute heated up fast. Eren demanded him to give back the bag, but the older guy just laughed, and then Levi saw him reaching out to strike the first blow.

Levi didn't interfere. He knew he'd have to give an explanation when Eren came home with a black eye, but to be perfectly honest, he was curious about what the brat was capable of.

He seemed ready for the blow, his hands raised, his weight resting on his thighs. He ducked his head, lunged forward, wrapped himself around his opponent's waist and rammed his back into the wall next to them. The other two men kept standing in their places, one of them holding Armin back with ease, who desperately tried to get to Eren to help. Not in the least disconcerted, Eren's opponent countered with a knee kick against his head, which certainly almost broke Eren's jaw. The boy stumbled backwards, but caught himself again, grabbed the guy's throat and pressed both thumbs with strength down from his chin. He then gave the guy a head butt on the nose, whereupon blood gushed like a geyser.

Levi had to admit that Eren did pretty well for someone who wasn't used to fighting. He had a natural comprehension of the body's weak spots. But the other guy obviously was more experienced; he smiled through the red streams around the corners of his mouth and landed a deep right hook that for sure squeezed Eren's liver up to his lungs. Eren grabbed the guy by the hair and the two spun around as the other guy pressed his palms together and both of them pounded Eren's temples. The force of the blow threw the boy backwards tiptoeing, but he regained his balance before he fell. Unfortunately, his reflexes weren't fast enough to prevent the following thundering chin-hook. It must have felt like being hit by a baseball bat, and Levi saw that the guy was putting on an old-fashioned brass knuckle while one of his comrades sneaked behind Eren and put him in a headlock. A black eye was one thing, but broken facial bones another.

Levi rushed forwards, too fast for anyone to notice his approach until it was too late for them. He grabbed the knuckleduster-punk's wrist and twisted it, causing it to break loose from its joint. The man bucked in pain and stumbled a few steps back. But Levi wasn't done with him yet. He flew back at the guy, grabbed the back of his neck and rammed his knee in the man's face who fell over like a massive bag of concrete. Levi took him by his collar, and dragged him to the ground near the wall whose shadow covered the scene. Next was the guy behind Eren who still hadn't let loose of the kid's arms or even grasped what was going on. In a single lithe move Levi jumped off the ground and landed on top of the guy's back, latching on with his left arm and both of his legs as he put his right fist to the man's temple, shutting him down. The last man, the one that previously had a hold on Armin and had enough time by now to get what was going on, let go of the blonde, and started sprinting in the opposite direction from the black shadow that had knocked out his two comrades in a mere three seconds.

Levi was about to throw himself at him as well when out of nowhere a blazing pain lit off from his left lung, the violent burning sluicing through his body, ricocheting around inside of his skin until he was alive with agony. He gasped for breath, and crouched on the ground, a hand tightly pressed to his side. There was a hole. He was bleeding.

Levi took a quick stock of the injury. Nothing too serious. Some skin and muscle stripped from his rips. Bone was intact. He could still fight.

 _What the fuck, where did that come from?_

Levi turned his head and looked up at the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, knowing by the way the bullet penetrated his flesh that it was fired off from a bevelled angle. It was out of question that this was associated with the purse snatchers he just dealt with, so either someone was set up to kill him or the actual reason for his current job had finally staged.

Was it possible that he assumed wrong? That the guy they chased was a professional after all who was capable of switching off his emotions while killing someone?

In the flash of an eye, Levi recognized the reflection of a lens on the building to his left. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Eren screaming his name, but Levi had already entered the zone. He ran towards the building's wall, jumped against it and used his speed's force to reach the small canopy where his hands found the its edges, and he pulled himself up. From there it was only another jump-and-pull until he reached the rooftop. His side begun to sting in a bad manner, but Levi didn't had time to care about it. The moment he hitched up on the roof, he saw his would-be assassin. The man in front of him was in shock as his calculation obviously hadn't factored his target's speed. Levi dived forwards, pushing the man in the ground underneath them. He knew his eyes started to shine, but he didn't care. This man had no chance of living through this, so there was no risk in showing him.

"Name your business, sucker. Who are you and why are you after Mr. Yeager's daughter?"

The man underneath him was calm and silent. Just another one out of a cast of hundreds of your typical bottom-feeding, drug-dealing, shifty-eyed motherfuckers. The kid's history of child abuse was written in the old circular scar on his face - perfectly round and the size of a burning end of a cigarette - and his hard life on the street was in his smart, twitchy eyes. A cocky smile started to show on his lips as he replied to Levi. "Don't know what you're talking about, man. The one I am after, is you."

That explained why Levi hadn't smelled anything. This man was a professional. He narrowed his eyes. "Who are you working for?"

"Two months ago, you murdered my brother, bastard. He was assigned to switch your lights off, and you hanged him with his own intestines."

 _Aah_ , Levi remembered that. He had met this piece of shit a few times before and he knew that he was, besides being a hitman himself, a rather unpleasant guy. Had his hands in selling poor children from Third World countries to rich bastards who were holding them as slaves, fighting dogs or sex toys. So, Levi found it appropriate to leave a message. Although he was sort of impressed that the man underneath him managed to keep his emotion under control even though this was a personal matter to him.

Levi laid the knife he always kept hidden in his waistband right against the vital, beating pulse at the side of the guy's white neck. "So? Shit happens in this business. You should thank me for clearing the world from bastards like your beloved brother," he said, pressing the point of his knife in. As the penetration was achieved, blood welled up in a bubble and stayed put for a split second, like it was trying to decide whether to flow down the shiny metal or the smooth column of skin. It picked the blade, meandering forth in a ruby red stream. He pressed in harder, watching the blood run, momentarily captivated by reality. Without giving the other man another warning, he pushed the weapon through the flesh, all the way in, and watched him cease to exist, like a breath of air disappearing into the humid day.

Standing up, Levi pulled out his phone and sent Erwin a quick message with the coordinates of the place that needed to be cleaned and that he should sent his crazy bitch of doctor to the Yeager's mansion. He felt air coming through the hole on his side and gathering around his lung, causing it to start collapsing. He had so act fast now. He went to the edge of the roof, and looked down.

A pair of dark green orbs that stared up to him in simple despair met his gaze.

Seemed like he gave the boy the shock of a lifetime.

When jumping down on the canopy Levi almost was sure, he would merely fall into those deep and stormy waters those eyes were and drown in them. What would be a bearable way to die, Levi thought absently.

He jumped down on the ground and it became more and more difficult to keep air inside his lungs. He collapsed and fell down to one knee, while Eren rushed towards him. He overdid it again. The scent of his despair drifted around, and the smell of dead soil and polluted water stung in Levi's nose.

"Shit, Levi! Are you okay?!" The poor boy was on the edge of crying. "You were shot, we need to get you into a hospital. Fuck! Armin, go get Mikasa!" He looped his arm under Levi's, and helped him getting up. The blonde ran for his life to get the girl out of the bookstore. When Levi was back on his feet, still steadied by the younger man, he recognized the other's high body heat.

 _Shit, is this brat always so hot or is it because he's panicking?_

"No, not the hospital," he said with a rough voice. "Get me in the car and back to your house. I ordered a doctor to come there." Levi saw the confusion in Eren's eyes. "I'm fine, it's just a damn bullet, get your head out of your -."

Levi coughed blood into his hand, unable to end his insult. Eren's scent intensified, and the boy started to yell at him.

"The fuck, you're fine! We don't have time for your bullshit, we'll drive you to a hospital. Right. Now!"

 _Fucking. God._

Levi wanted to pinch his nose to get rid of the growing headache behind his eyes. He knew he had little authority with all the bloody mud dripping from his chin, but he tried his best to cover that up in a pure threatening manner.

"Listen, you piece of _shit_. You get me back to your mansion or else-." _Fuck, this isn't working._

As Levi was coughing more and more blood till his entire vest was soaked, he recognized that his behaviour wasn't getting him anywhere. When worst came to worst, and he would be passing out, they really would go into a hospital and it would be a pain in the ass for both Erwin and him to get rid of the records.

Calming his nerves, he looked back up to Eren, trying to smooth the angry expression on his face. He felt like he failed. "Listen, kid. I can't go into a hospital. They will ask questions. Furthermore is the doctor I sent to your house the only medic I trust. So please. Take me to her."

He saw Eren weighing the options at hand, and when the brat sighed out audibly, he knew he had won. "All right, let's hurry."

The blonde was coming back with the girl next to him, and was asking way too many questions at once. But the brat ignored her, heaved Levi to their car and inside it and took the seat next to him. Pedestrians were starting to take note of what happened, so there was another reason to hurry up. Mikasa and Armin took their seats, and Eren practically screamed at the driver to get them back as fast as possible. He pedaled.

"Turn me on my left side," Levi said, his voice barely more than a wheeze anymore. "That way gravity will keep the lung open." He tried to press his hands against the hole keep the air from getting in any further, but he felt his strength vanishing little by little. The boy seemed to notice, and placed his hands above Levi's to help.

Levi didn't like it when people touch him, but under given circumstances, he would like it even less to bleed to death. Moreover, Eren's hands were so warm and careful that his touch was almost pleasant. Although he used as much force as he could without hurting him.

As he began to daze away from blood loss and lack of oxygen, he looked up at Eren. He was talking to someone. Levi couldn't hear what he was saying, but he didn't care either. All he wanted to know was why the boy's scent was so unendingly overloaded with sadness and anxiety. It didn't suit him. He wanted the boy's normal scent, the one which smelled like rushing off a rocky cliff and right into an ocean.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

Halfway home, Levi passed out. Eren desperately tried to keep his grip to the man's side without further injuring his already punctured lung. His hands had gone numb from the pressure half an hour ago. There was so much blood around him. On his hands, up his forearms and all over Levi's clothes as well as the leather seat he was lying on. Eren didn't know what else to do, he just kept yelling at the driver to go faster, mentally repeating his newly found mantra.

 _Please, god! Don't let this happen, don't let this happen, don't let this happen!..._

Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Mikasa trying to calm him down, but for the most part it made everything worse. He didn't want to hear from her at all. He knew that Levi had been a nuisance for her from the beginning, and although he knew deep down that he was doing her wrong, he cursed her for not caring about what happened to him. Not that it really mattered at this moment. Nothing did. All he knew was that he had to keep Levi alive until they'd get home. He tried to talk him out of unconsciousness.

"Levi, come on, man! Stay with me! You must not leave me here, please! Do you hear me?!" But it didn't work. The man in front of him kept lying there without saying a single word, eyes closed and face unnaturally relaxed.

"Armin, wet your finger and put it under his nose! Mikasa, you take his wrist and check for pulse," he yelled at his friends, and laid his head down on the other man's chest to hear his heartbeat. It was still there and steady moreover, which eased Eren a bit. If only a little.

All three had their hands on Levi, constantly checking his vitals with the little possibilities they had at hand. Eren kept murmuring words to Levi, praying that it had any effect on his subconscious.

An eternity for Eren and one hour later in real life, they finally reached their house and through the car's window Eren saw two people standing in front of the house's entrance, already awaiting them.

One of them was Mr. Smith, who was way too calm for Eren's liking.

 _Why the fuck is he just standing there?,_ Eren thought furiously.

The other one was a woman with wide, light brown eyes behind square, thick-rimmed glasses that have bands strapped around her head, and medium-length dark brown hair that was tied up in an unkempt high ponytail with bangs parted down the middle. It looked a little oily and unclean, as if she hadn't found the time to refresh herself up for quite some time. She wore a white button up shirt with black pants and a white coat. Eren got out the car and pulled Levi with him.

"Ahh, there he is," the woman said. Long time no see, Levi! What's cracking, yo?"

And she had a fucking bright smile on her face! Eren was so close to slapping that grin out of her face, he felt his head heat up. "You crazy, you bitch?! The fuck is wrong with you guys, why are you just standing there? We have to get him a doctor!"

He heard a deep but savoury laugh coming from the behind the woman, so he looked over her shoulder and saw Mr. Smith holding his stomach. "Must been the second time you got addressed like this, Hange." He walked down the stairs and towards Eren. "No need to panic, young man. Levi will be fine now that he's here." He leant forward and put his arms under Levi's back and knees, and lifted him up in the air bridal style. "Let's get inside." Eren wanted to argue and tell Mr. Smith to be careful, but he was dumbfounded by the serenity of the people around him.

Mikasa and Armin got out of the car as well, and all of them followed Erwin and the weird woman who pulled a stethoscope from the pocket of her white coat, put the tubs in her ears and held the diaphragm onto Levi's chest.

 _Shit, is she the doctor?_

Erwin carried him up to the first floor and went left until he paused in front of Levi's room. Hange opened the door and they went inside, while Eren and the others stopped in the frame. When he looked around the corner and inside of the room, he saw all kinds of equipment, such as he had only seen in movies and hospital series. Dozens of machines, all making some kind of beeping noises and midst all of them was a bedside Erwin carefully laid Levi upon.

"Very well, let's start," the woman said. "Seems like he was shot in his left side and since there is no exit hole, the bullet has to be still stuck in his lung. We've to take it out before the wound starts to close."

The weird woman started to give instructions to the other white-clad people in Levi's room while she moved a strange-looking tool over Levi's rip cage that was giving off a bright, concentrated light. Then another assistant put a mask over Levi's face. "The anaesthetic works in thirty, come and prepare me and the wound as well."

One man run up to her, putting large gloves over her hands that covered her up to her elbows and someone else cut away Levi's shirt as well as anything else that was on his upper body.

 _Are these weapon holsters that fell to the ground?_

Next, they threw a green blanket with an opening in the middle on top of Levi, so now the intake hole was the only visible part of his torso. The blood on Levi's side was wiped away, something was sprayed on the wound and the woman got to work. Her assistants handed her some more tools and first she rammed something like a little tube between his ribs, where immediately some blood started to run out. Next she pushed the pliers in her right hand through Levi's wound while one of her assistants put another mask over his nose and mouth, this time one with a bag on it and started pumping it.

"Come here and si by his head," the doctor called out into the room and to no one in particular. When none of her people moved from their position, she looked over her shoulder and in Eren's direction. "I am talking to you, boy. Come here."

Eren wasn't sure who she was talking to. He looked around himself and found the entire house gathered in his back. His father stood next to him as well as Mikasa and Armin and a few others who were on work shift. Something poked him in the small of his back and he heard Mikasa's voice. "She's talking to you, Eren. Get in there."

Before Eren recognized what was happening, he already inched forwards.

 _What? Why me? What can I do?_

He was completely lost as he stood beside Hange and looked down at the sedated raven. "Get a chair and sit down. I want you to talk to him while I work on him." There was a dull squeaking sound from wood scratching against spread out plastic ground and Eren felt a heavy hand sitting him down on his ass. He looked up to the doctor, but nothing in her face told him what he was supposed to do.

"Why?" was all he managed to say. His eyes flexed back to Levi's face.

"Because I experienced that even if a patient isn't acutally able to hear what is being said, their vitals are much more stable when there's someone talking to them. It's as if their subconscious notices that they are not alone and that soothes them."

But what should he say?

It took Eren a few a couple of heartbeats before he leaned forwards, putting his lips by Levi's ear, and he started whispering.

"I'm so sorry, Levi. This is all my fault. Oh God, what did I do? If I hadn't gone outside and wouldn't have been such an unreliable prick, you wouldn't have had to come to save me. Again. Gosh, I'm so terribly sorry." He paused, unsure what to say next.

"I'm going to make up for it, I swear. You'll see. I don't know how yet, but I will. It's a promise." What else was there to say?

 _But it doesn't really matter what I say, does it? It's just about talking to him, she said._

In a flash ll sorts of things came to his head, and then saw a chance that probably wouldn't come up again so soon.

"You know what, Levi? The first moment I saw you, I didn't know what to think of you. You had this calm but annoyed aura on you. And you looked pretty cool in this suit of yours. Then I saw Maria carrying all the cleansing stuff up to your room and I had no idea what that was all about. When I asked her, she told me that you forbid her to enter your room and that you insisted on cleaning it yourself. Who would've guessed that a guy like you has some lame side to him like being a clean freak." Eren smiled to himself.

"And then I saw you wander through the backyards, from out of my window. You were checking out the area and you only wore a pair of jeans and an old-fashioned bottom up shirt. It looked more casually and suited you so much better. This was more the real you, wasn't it? I like to watch the way you move and walk, you always seem to be on alert, ready to jump at the throat of anything that doesn't move the way you want it to. I started to want to know more about you. And then there was this night you'd gone out..."

Eren didn't know, whether he should skip this part. He remembered that the doctor said, Levi wasn't actually hearing him, so technically there was no risk. _But you never know, especially with a man like him._

"Well, never mind. The day after you went out and we met in the library, do you remember it? It was the first time that I saw an emotion other than pure boredom on your face. That duelling look you gave me almost made my heart stop." Eren reminded himself that he wasn't alone, so he lowered his voice even more to make sure nobody else could hear him.

"Shit, you brought up all this confusion inside me. You're so much the person I want to be myself. You don't care for what people tell you to do. You do what you want. You go where you want to go. You're so confident in yourself and by the way you do things, you can tell that it has to be justified. The way you beat the crap out of those guys earlier. Man, you were so fast, my eyes couldn't even follow."

"I didn't know what happened to me before it was too late. My admiration for you turned into something else. I can feel it by way my heart clenches right now." Eren was surprised that he could form clear thoughts now of all times, when he was not able to do so in all the past days.

"I didn't even know I was attracted to guys, you know? It's not that I have a problem with it. But it sure is nothing you expect offhand. Now that I think of it, I never felt attracted like this to anyone before you came around." Eren thought to himself that this alone was weird enough for a nineteen years old boy, but given the fact that he had spent most of his time with his sister in his own home, mostly surrounded by elderly employees, it somehow made sense. "So maybe it's just you."

He smiled, looking at Levi's face. He was so caught up in his own murmuring and being near to the man he admired that he started to lose focus of what happened around him.

"I'd like to get to know you better, Levi. Please allow me to be near to you. I don't know exactly what it is that I want, but I want to figure it out. I want to know why you're always running around with that gloomy expression on your face. I want to know what made you choose this kind of job. I want to know the sound of your laugh and what makes you do so. I want to know what exactly it is I feel for you. What I can learn from you."

A small voice inside of Eren tried to tell him that it wasn't necessarily the right time for such a confession, as Levi was currently lying on a surgical table, with five other people in the room and a bunch more right in front of it. But halfway consciously he ignored it because he knew he wouldn't find the guts to tell him all this while he'd be awake. So maybe this was his only chance and maybe Levi was hearing him. Moreover, thanks to their proximity, Eren became drunk bit by bit on Levi's characteristic fresh but spicy scent, which lingered on his skin and his hair. It clouded Eren's mind, causing him to grow a little bolder.

"Remember when you found me in my bed thinking of you and you shut out all the others? I still don't know what to make out of your behaviour back then. Tell me, Levi. Why did you do it? Were you just trying to save me from my self-caused embarrassment because you pitied me or was it something else?" If he hadn't been so occupied with losing himself in the man's scent, he would've felt ashamed and humiliated by his inappropriate behaviour. But at this point, he had almost lost all awareness of their situation and Eren wanted to verbalize what he had on his mind, although it was more of a wish than something he actually believed in. "Or was it because you didn't want anyone else to see me this way? Because deep down, you do like me as well and you wanted to be the only one who sees me all flustered and aroused? I wonder about all the things aside from fighting you can teach me."

The little voice in Eren's head made itself noticeable once again and asked where all of a sudden a virgin like him knew about mating behaviour and how to be kinky.

A loud and penetrating noise exploded around him. Eren's head snapped up and he saw that one of the doctor's assistants had run into one of the machines, seemingly unintentionally.

Eren was smashed back to earth rather hard as he realized what he just did. Also, this was the time he later would determine as when he became a tad schizophrenic.

 _Oh gosh, what the hell I am doing? Whispering seductive things into the ear of a man who is on the edge of dying? Well done, very charming._

He felt a blush bright as the sun creeping onto his face. Trying to hide it, he let his hair fall into his face, but it didn't help pushing away the disgust he felt with himself. He'd gotten too carried away by his thoughts and Levi being near to him.

Eren peeked through his bangs and looked up to the doctor. She was sewing Levi's wound, but she hadn't said a word since Eren had started talking talk to Levi. All Eren heard was the beeping sounds from the machines that recorded Levi's vitals.

"S-so, how did it go?" Eren tried to fight down his blush and finally lifted his face. "Will he be alright?"

She made some final stitches and let out a long breath. Then she turned her head to Eren and flashed him a bright smile. "That was never in question. Believe me, it takes more than a bullet to knock this one out completely. And you did well, his vitals haven't once dropped." She turned back to Levi and was about to pull out of her gloves when Eren placed on hand on her upper arm.

He looked down ashamed for more than one reason, but he had to apologize. "I'm sorry for calling you a bitch earlier. I didn't know why you were so joyful despite Levi was almost dead in my arms."

She laughed out loud and clapped Eren on his shoulder where she left some of the bloody mess of her gloves, which she didn't even seem to notice. "Ah, no problem! I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't care about him. Bit that's not the first time I put him back together and by comparison, this truly was a lightweight."

Eren wondered what else Levi had gone through. "Is there anything I can do for him?" he asked.

"Sure, one of my assistants will bandage him now. So if you wanna, let it be explained to you and see how it's done and then do it yourself for the next two or three days. That spares us from coming back here every day and if you have questions," she pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it over, "here's my number. Feel free to call any time. By the way, my name's Hange Zoe. Nice to meetcha!"

Eren took the card from her. "Thanks, nice to meet you too. My name is Eren." And while she got freed from her surgical gown, the blankets lying on Levi were also removed. When Eren heard a suppressed shriek, he and Hange turned to one female assistant who was staring at Levi's mid-section.

Obvious and exposed to everyone's gaze was a rather visible bulge in Levi's jeans. Eren was about to blush a deep wine red while he heard Hange's piercing voice echoing through the room.

"Ahahahaha, oh my god, oh my GAD! I can't believe it!" She bucked over due to her hard laughing. "His face will be priceless when I tell him that he got a boner while I had my hands inside of him. He might kill me on the spot, but it'll be so totally worth it!"

When everyone around her stayed quiet and an indignant silent fell across the room, she finally caught her breath and explained: "No worries, it's a side effect of the anaesthetic. It contains hormones of happiness which can lead to symptoms like that. Beside it's a perfectly fine body function and it won't hold for long so don't let it bother you."

Eren only noticed the second moment that Hange wasn't talking to him, rather to her assistant. She turned around, walked up to Erwin and they talked about something else. Eren's eyes flexed back on the man lying in front of him.

It wasn't possible that his whispering in Levi's ear caused this reaction, was it? That would be too good to be true.

Hange's assistant was beginning to unpack the bandages and asked Eren to help her holding Levi's upper body upright. Eren hesitated before he touched Levi's naked skin, but he tried to keep his head straight. It surely wasn't the time or the place to admire the smoothness and warmth of his skin or the fact that Eren could feel his firm muscles underneath it. So he focused on what the woman was telling him. She explained him every step of how, where and why to put the bandages. Which was kind of unnecessary since she also mentioned that she had to do it only once and the next time the bandages would be removed, he had to put on different layers of fabric and fix them with special tape. But he still listened. Who knew when something like that might come in handy.

When she was done, Erwin heaved Levi onto his bed, and soon he and Hange said their goodbyes to everyone who was around. Their assistants packed their surgical equipment and after the conversations, after all the noises, everything finally became silent and Eren sat next to Levi's bed, still on the very same stool they had seated him on earlier.

He sat there and listened to Levi's soft and steady breathing. His head had become more and more blank with the minutes passing by.

He couldn't tell if it had been minutes or even hours when eventually he heard a soft knock breaking the silence in his mind. It was Armin.

"Hey Eren. You okay? Why don't you come down with me and we grab you a bite?"

Eren had forgotten about any needs. Considering Armin's question, it must had become evening by now and he hadn't eaten a thing or went to the bathroom once. "I'm fine. I want to stay here until he wakes up."

Levi would most likely kill him for being in his room and watching him sleep, but Eren couldn't care less. All that mattered was that Levi was alright. And Eren would stay right in his place until he woke up to confirmed that to him.

Armin knew how stubborn Eren could get, so he saw no point in debating. He told Eren that he would let Maria bring him something and solicited him to eat.

When Armin was gone, Eren looked around. It was already dark outside and only the moonlight illuminated the room. He had to busy himself to avoid falling asleep. If he slept, he wouldn't notice if Levi's condition got worse. So he grabbed the cleansing stuff he saw in an open sideboard door underneath the TV and started to scrub surfaces, dusted every object and wiped the floor. Hange told him that Levi would wake up in the morning or maybe in the noon and he assumed he'd like to do so in a clean room. So next, he went to the bathroom and cleansed the tiles, the sink, the toilet. It wasn't hard work since it was spotless already, but Eren couldn't think of anything else to do. He polished and preened and scrubbed everything he could get his hands on and after quite a while, he collapsed back on the stool, every last bit of remaining energy sucked out of his system.

The day was taking its toll on his body while his mind already had given up. He sank down on the mattress in front of him until his head was lying beside Levi. Eren turned his face watched the man breathing in and out, his lips faintly parted. He looked so peacefully. Outright different from the grimness that usually settled on his face. Before Eren recognized it, his lids had closed and he drifted into sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

He smelled something. To be more precise, there was a bunch of different somethings. The mixed scent of feathers and cotton coming from his bedding rose to his nostrils, accompanied by the metallic odour of the weapons he'd placed everywhere in his room. Next there was his own blood and sweat dried on his body and it disgusted him. So far, nothing too out of the ordinary. But there was something that didn't fit. First, the smell of detergent was way too strong considering that it had been almost a day since he last used it. And another thing. A scent that didn't belong here. One of sadness and exhaustion.

Levi opened his eyes.

A ceiling. He was lying on his bed. Last time he remembered, he was in a car and a brat was sitting next to him, his hands tightly pressed on his own. Levi turned his head to the left, and was greeted by a bunch of messy brown hair. There he was, right next to him. Halfway sitting on a stool, halfway lying on his bed. His face was turned towards him, and he snored ever so slightly while his head rested on his forearms. And although he was asleep, his forehead was twisted in deep lines of worry. That unpleasant scent emitted from him. Without a second thought, Levi reached out to touch the soft looking brown mess, but at the tiniest movement his whole body arched in sharp pain, and so he pulled back his hand.

Oh, right. He got shot. That bastard on the roof dared to puncture his lung and Eren drove him back to the mansion. He had called Erwin to send Hange over. She must've removed the bullet before his internal organs started to heal around it. The details came back to him as he watched Eren breathing. A boy this young shouldn't have set his face in such an expression. Sure, he remembered himself starting to look like that at a way younger age. But that didn't change the fact, it wasn't supposed to be this way.

He wanted to wipe away those ugly lines. Although his body screamed at him to stop, he moved his hand closer until he finally curled a stand of Eren's hair around his fingers. It was smooth and thick. He let his hand fall next to Eren's face and caressed the plump cheek with his index finger.

 _God, his skin is even softer than his hair. And he is warm._

Levi had noticed this earlier, but he'd thought that it might've been because of the situation Eren was in back then. But even now while he was in this awkward position and sound asleep, he radiated a comforting warmth that made Levi wonder where it might come from.

Maybe he'd caught a fever. Maybe he was infecting him the very second by his shallow breaths and Levi's inability to keep his hands by himself.

He got annoyed by the situation, but mostly by himself. He clearly wasn't in his right mind yet, he thought as we wiped his hands on the sheets beneath him. Not that he had a fucking better alternative since he could barely move his arm.

Levi looked out of the window and saw that outside it was pitch-black. If he wanted to recover fast, he should get back to sleep. Maybe in the morning, the brat would finally be gone and stop irritating him.

Levi closed his eyes again and forced his mind to stop clinging onto the disturbing scent that floated up to him from his left. It was a pity. Normally the boy smelled really good. Like a fresh mixture of lavender, rosemary and mint at the top with underlying floral and woody notes of jasmine, geranium and sandalwood. A warm, sweet base of musk and amber. But now, most of it was overdrawn by his negative emotions.

In no existing universe he'd ever admit it. He'd rather kill anyone on the spot who would allege it. But more or less deliberately, his hand sneaked towards the arm of the boy next to him, without touching it tough. He just wanted to feel a little more of the warmth he boy was giving off while he went back to sleep.

* * *

It was ten o'clock in the morning and Eren was almost fine. Almost. Except for one really minor thing. A little crack in the otherwise comfy bubble, he was in. His whole body. Was. In. Agony! It had been a downright miserable idea to stay on this fucking chair. He should've gotten himself a futon to lay upon. Fuck, even lying on the bare floor would've been a better idea than the idiotic combination of half chair, half edge of a bed.

He was still in Levi's room, and to kill time until he had to change the bandages, Eren had cleaned the room all over again. He now headed into the bathroom to take a quick shower while he kept grumbling about his own stupidity. Seriously, why were all his mistakes continuously coming back at him right away like a K.O. hit that was waiting around the next corner? A break would be awesome once in a while.

He knew, he was acting irrational, especially about wanting to stay in this very room. But he didn't want to leave Levi's side until he would wake up and tell him that he was fine. So he finished, patted himself dry, and returned with a sponge, a pair of scissors, a bunch of cloths and the tape, Hange's assistant gave him. The time had come. He would remove the bandages, clean the wound, and put a big clothed patch on it. What meant, he would touch Levi. Not that he hadn't the day before, but now they were alone. Sorely alone. Eren couldn't stop himself from thinking about it as an intimate moment. He sat down onto the mattress and eyed Levi warily, thanking the gods that he was still asleep. It would be painfully awkward to do this with him being awake.

With trembling fingers, Eren reached for the thin blanket's rim that covered Levi's upper body. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pulled it down to the other man's waist. He didn't dare to take a look right away. He had to braced himself for a few moments.

Though he hated himself more than just a little for his childish manner, he counted up to three and only then opened his eyes. And swallowed immediately. Although half of his body was wrapped with bandages, Eren had an otherwise unobstructed view of every inch of exposed skin. He knew, Levi was well-built, but he hadn't expected him to be so… freaking ripped. For an instant, Eren almost got jealous, but then he was rather fascinated by all those lean and perfectly defined muscles that ran throughout Levi's torso and arms. It wasn't that he'd never seen a well-trained body before. Hell, Mikasa wore just a sports bra and shorts when she worked out, and she was built like a mixed martial arts fighter. But the man in front of him took it to another level. He wasn't bulky or anything like it, but just so... goddamn defined and balanced. Somehow, he managed to make all those muscles look elegant. With his sleek, jet-black hair falling back from his face and lying softly on the cushion underneath it. With these dense eyelashes that rested on high and pale cheekbones while slim and slightly parted lips glistened in an ever so shallow touch of pink. The way his flawless skin caught the surrounding lights, storing and giving it back off in a sheer shimmer was mesmerizing. Combined with those lightly visible tendons that ran along his neck and flexed gently whenever he breathed in, he looked as perfect as if he had just risen from an oil painting by Rob Hefferan.

It must've been minutes that Eren let his gaze wander back and forth over Levi's exposed body. He was nothing less than perfection itself. Somewhere in-between, Eren remembered what he'd been about to do, and his mind snapped back in place. Shit, he was taking too long. He shouldn't check out the raven like this without him even knowing.

So, Eren finally grabbed the scissors that laid next to him, positioned them at the lower rim of the surgical dressing, and carefully cut a straight line up Levi's clavicle.

The bandages stuck a little to the skin, and Eren tried his best to remove them without waking Levi up. And the gods seemed to be on his side, at least for today. He finished the front and encountered the problem of pulling the bandages away from under Levi. But there was no way to do it without waking him, so Eren figured that it wouldn't be too bad, and just left them being where they were.

Next, he had to clean the wound. Eren laid Levi's arm a little further away from his body, so that he had better access to the man's side. When he saw the little red and swollen circle with stitches still in it, he got sad at the thought that something now blemished Levi's otherwise flawless appearance. Not that it took harm on his attractiveness in the slightest. Anything but. Eren was merely mad at himself for causing the blemish.

But then, something came to his mind. Hadn't Hange told him that she'd patched Levi up over and over when he had gotten in serious trouble? Where were all the operation scars? They couldn't all be placed on his lower body, could they? Eren was tempted to look for them, but then he certainly would cross a line.

Instead, he drowned a piece of cloth in the fresh water and tapped it carefully on the wound to remove any dried blood or other stuff that might cause an infection. He then dried the wound, put on some ointment, and placed a piece of freshly opened medical cloth on top of it, and fixed it with some sticky tape. Done. Mission accomplished without him stepping into a big bunch again. _Greeeaaaat_.

Completely ignoring his inner voice that wisely told him to always stop when things are going too good to be true, he came up with another idea.

Levi was a clean freak. For that reason Eren had already cleaned his room twice.

But there might be something else, Levi would rather have clean. Himself.

It was risky, but at least Eren had a good excuse.

He went back to the bathroom, changed the bowl's water and put in a bit of the soap, he found in Levi's shower. He returned with a fresh towel, and sat back on his place right next to the man on the bed, balancing the bowl on his knees. He dipped the fabric into it, and started to wipe Levi's hand and wrist as gently as he could. He moved up and down his forearm, to his bi- and triceps and up to his shoulder. Now and then, he dipped the towel back into the soapy water. This worked. And it was astonishing how the water intensified the reflection on all the little curves, his muscles and bones caused. He continued wiping the upper body, and slowly, he was getting closer and closer to the soft fabrics rim that covered Levi from down his hips. Eren wondered when he'd become a masochist as well, but torturing himself like that made him feel an excitement, he never knew before. It felt so, so good. Plus, he just couldn't get enough of this sight...

...

"What the fuck are you doing there?"

 _Oh. Shit._

Eren frightened so hard at those simple yet promising words that he jumped right off the bed and fell with the water bowl on top of him while his eyes fixed on the clearly open ones of Levi. His heart was beating so hard, it made his breath stuck in his throat.

There he was, sitting on the ground, water all spilled over him and caught again.

 _Must be the new title of my life._

He felt heat crawl up his neck and knew, he was getting red as a tomato. And those eyes, he was staring into kept being hard as stone and just as emotionless.

But, no… not entirely. There was something in them. Something Eren couldn't entitle quite exactly. And as soon as it flashed in those steel grey eyes, it was gone again. He saw Levi's lips moving, but the blood in his ears was being pumped so hard, all he heard was a deafening roaring. Levi started to look annoyed as Eren just kept staring.

He tried to come back to mind and shook his head. "Ah- sorry. I'm sorry, what did you say?

"I want to know what you are doing inside my fucking room and why I am fucking halfway naked." Levi repeated his words slowly and emphasized every one of it as if he was talking to someone totally incompetent. Eren blushed even more at his last word, although he didn't think that it was possible.

 _Words. Speaking words... Shit, say something!_

"I had to change your dressing, you know. You were shot and Hange was-"

"And the towel in your hand?" Levi interrupted him. Eren turned his head down and looked at the piece of clothes he was fisting.

 _Nice. The gods hate me after all._

"I- I was thinking that... you know... well, since I know, you have a thing about cleanliness and stuff... maybe you would like to get rid off all the blood and dirt so I grabbed it and a bowl of water and started to remove your... you know... I hoped, you-," he trailed off and hoped for an earthquake or something similar to rescue him from this situation. But since he already figured out that the gods weren't on his side, he wasn't really surprised when nothing else than Levi looking even more pissed than before happened.

"You thought, I'd appreciate it to get undressed and touched in my sleep by some shitty brat I practically don't know?"

Eren's eyes widened. Without thinking at all and all his knowledge about conventional conversations leaving him, his next words just slipped his tongue. "Do you want to get to know me?"

One second. Two.

He mentally face palmed as he recognized what he just said and was about to take it back, but again something flashed in the other's eyes. He wasn't answering either, so Eren was lost of things to do. Cover up? Make a joke? He was clueless.

So, in the end he simply stood up.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave. I just wanted to make sure, you're okay." Eren took the towel and the bowl and turned around, ready to leave the room and never coming back again when he heard Levi speak again.

"Why?"

* * *

The kid stopped. Again, the room was filled with the muddy smell of his sadness, and it slowly was driving Levi nuts. The boy switched from excitement to worry and sadness way too fast for him to keep track.

"What do you mean ‚why'?" He still hadn't turned around, but Levi knew what he would look like. Those impressive green eyes would be glassy. The salty scent of hidden tears gave him away. But at least, the boy tried to keep his countenance.

"I mean, why do you stay at my bedside all night long, try to clean my room, whereby you did a pretty pathetic job by the way. I can see the dust on the curtain rod pile up even from here. And then you also try to free me from the filth clinging to me to satisfy my obsession with cleanliness?"

 _That must've been the longest sentence I ever said to the brat_ , Levi mused quietly.

"Because you were shot."

Levi rolled his eyes. _Well, duh.._. as if he didn't remember. "Yes, but why does it matter to you? You don't know me. There's no reason for you to do those things and even less for you to cry now."

Eren tensed up a bit more, obviously realizing that he'd been caught.

"Because I want to know you."

...

 _Well, didn't see that coming._

Eren's answer made Levi shut up for a whole minute, leaving him shocked by the boy's honesty. It became a habit of him over the past years to never get too close to his clients, since he wasn't spending much time with any of them anyway. So he thought it best when they don't know any more than necessary about him and vice versa. There was no point in getting to know each other, when their paths would separate after all. Or worse, if they meet again on opposite sides of the game field. Sure, for some people that didn't apply. Erwin was the biggest exception from this rule due to their common past. But also a few hand-picked more got a deeper insight of Levi's personality or his background. Mostly because he knew them since a very long time and they never proved themselves any other than reliable. So the little voice inside his head told him, he should send the boy away already, but for some reason Levi didn't want to. He triggered his curiosity. On one hand, he was immature in so many ways, but then again… Levi didn't know how to spell it, but he got a feeling that the boy's interest was genuine. That alone was something that didn't happen too often to him. And so, it made him question his own resolve since he woke up last night and found the boy lying by his side.

What could go wrong even if he spent some time with him? It wasn't like he could ever pose a real threat to him. Sure, he knew that Eren had taken some interest in him, Levi didn't necessarily plan to serve. And even if he would, it only would keep on until he'll finish his job and leaves. Afterwards, it wouldn't be his problem anymore. Furthermore, he had to admit that he was tired of being alone here in this foreign mansion. He might be a loner for most of the time, but even he needed some interpersonal interaction from time to time.

The silence continued for a while longer until Levi finally decided to break it. "How about some tea, brat?"

Eren, who'd kept standing exactly where he was, turned around with such joyful eyes, Levi almost had to lower his gaze.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Eren couldn't stop smiling as he bounced down the stairs and to the kitchen. It was empty since lunch wouldn't take place for another two hours. He searched for tea bags and the kettle, but didn't find neither of it. Maria preferred the surfaces free from kitchen appliances when nobody worked in here, so she always put them back in the base cabinets. And since the kitchen was spacious, there were a lot of them. As if she had foreseen that Eren was about to fetch her, she entered the room.

"Sir Eren, I wasn't expecting you in here. How are you feeling? Armin informed everybody about what happened yesterday, but there are still things that had been left unclear."

Eren didn't want to be mean, but he wanted to hurry back to Levi before he would change his mind.

"I'm sorry, Maria, but I don't think I know any more than Armin does. Besides that, I'm feeling good. I wanted to prepare some tea, but I can't find a single thing I need."

Maria walked up to Eren and bent down to reach inside a cabinet a few feet away from him. She took out the kettle, a teapot and some other things, and placed them on the counter.

"Must be the first time I see you craving for some tea, Sir Eren. What kind of flavour do you prefer?"

Eren didn't know. What kind of tea did Levi favor? He totally forgot to ask him.

"What tea do you usually make Levi?" Although he was sure, this had caught Maria's attention, she didn't show it. It wasn't in her nature to but in on other people's personal lives unless they asked her for advice. Eren always appreciated it. "Sir Levi has mostly asked for jasmine tea. Do you want me to prepare some for you?"

"No, I'd actually like you to show me how it's done."

"Very well. You should always use freshly drawn, cold water to prepare tea. Purified and spring water are best because they are relatively free from pollutants and other substances that can alter the tea's taste. It's also preferable for the water to have some natural minerals content, as they enhance the tea's flavour. The water I'm using is packed in glass bottles, and stands under the sink." She gestured for Eren to get one.

"Never use pre-heated water because it has most likely been overheated. Thereby it's losing oxygen while picking up harmful substances from the packaging. The water should be heated gently until a steady stream of air bubbles rise to the surface. At this point, the water's sufficiently heated and also has a preferable level of oxygen."

Eren was surprised that there was so much to know about something as simple as water. Good thing he hadn't just thrown some boiling water from the sink into the pot with a bag of tea, because Maria didn't stop there with her explanations.

"Temperature is also critical in making good tea. You can't just use boiling water on any kind of tea. In fact, each variety of tea needs to be prepared at a different range of temperature. Because of its more delicate processing, green tea often needs a cooler temperature to bring out the right flavour while black tea, which has been fully oxidized, needs much hotter water to bring out its characteristic baked sweetness. So, for jasmine tea as a green tea the water should be about 160 to 180 degrees. It's best to use a thermometer." She handed one over to him.

"Now, pour some of the hot water into the teapot as well as the teacups, and then pour it off. By warming the cups, the water temperature will be more consistent. You also should use loose-leaf tea. Tea bags contain broken leaves and leaf parts such as dust and fanning, which compromise the tea's essential oil content and fragrance. Broken leaves also release an overabundance of tannins, which increase bitterness and astringency. These are especially important considerations when brewing jasmine tea. Since it's flavour is light, the aroma is key and the green tea base makes it easy to brew a bitter cup. Loose-leaf tea minimizes these issues. Without the constraints of a bag, the leaves can expand in the hot water, making for a more robust taste and more even flavour diffusion."

Eren started to wonder. "Say, Maria, do you know all this because you like a good cup of tea yourself or is it because you're just one hell of a maid?"

Maria looked at him with a gentle smile on her face. "When making tea, Sir Eren, one should not be distracted. So, in terms of proportion, the ideal balance is about one teaspoon of loose-leaf jasmine tea per six ounces of water. Depending on the quality and intensity of the leaf and your own taste, you might experiment with a smaller or more heaping teaspoon. You should always keep in mind that bitterness often results from too much leaf. Whether steeped as an individual cup or by the pot, jasmine tea tastes best at about two to four minutes of steep time. But that is also a matter of preferences of flavour and aroma intensity. For Sir Levi, I always let it steep for about two and a half minutes."

Eren followed Maria's instructions, soaking the information in like a dry sponge.

 _If I learn to do this right without any help, Levi might ask me in the future to make him tea_.

Maria placed everything on a tray and Eren thanked her before rushing back up to the first floor. When he re-entered Levi's bedroom, Levi was sitting cross-legged on his bed. But it was obvious that he hadn't stayed there the whole time. The bandages he'd been laying upon were gone, his hair was wet, and he had changed into a pair of loose pyjamas pants and a black muscle shirt. Eren didn't know if he was relieved or disappointed that Levi wasn't topless anymore, but maybe it was for the better. He approached the bed and placed the tray on the nightstand.

"So, you already showered. Isn't it a bit too early since your surgery was only yesterday?"

"What, are you mad about not having to rub me down with a towel anymore?" Levi asked with a straight face. Eren got a feeling that he was joking, but since this man never laughed or smiled, it was hard to tell.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't sure if it was more bearable for you to be stained with all this mess or touched by me, but I assumed the latter. Guess, I was wrong after all."

Levi probably saw through his little attempt to find out how much he really didn't like the idea of Eren touching him. In any case, instead of answering, he took the teacup Eren had filled and had a sip. He gazed into the cup and back to Eren. "Did you brew it yourself?"

Eren grinned sheepishly. "Sure did. Maria taught me how to do it, though. To be honest, it was my first time making tea. I've never been into drinking it myself. Do you like it?"

Levi took another sip, and Eren noticed that he held his cup in a kind of strange way. Instead of taking the cup by its handle, he had grabbed it's rim with all five fingers of his right hand and placed the side between index finger and thumb to his lips.

"Why are you holding it like that?" Eren asked bluntly.

Levi lowered the cup and closed his eyes. "The first time I drank tea, the handle broke. The cup fell on the floor and the tea was spilled everywhere. It was such a waste."

"I'm sorry to... hear that?" Eren tilted his head. "Anyway, didn't the patch I put on you earlier get wet when you showered? Hange's assistant told me to keep it dry at all times, so perhaps I should change it again?"

Eren glanced at the man on the bed, trying to keep his face as emotionless as possible. He didn't want to give him the impression of being desperate to touch him, even if it was partly true. He rather wanted to use every opportunity to make himself useful to Levi without looking like a lovesick puppy hungry for physical contact.

"What makes you think that I'm not capable of changing it myself?" _Oh man, he's not going to make this easy for me._

"You sure are, but since the hole's mere inches under your armpit and thus blocked from your view, it'd be a hassle. At least without a mirror. I thought it'd be faster if I did it," Eren shrugged his shoulders, trying to look indifferent.

After a few seconds without neither of them saying a word, Levi spoke up again: "Why aren't you drinking your tea?"

Eren gazed into the empty teacup. "Well, as I said, I'm not that much into drinking tea."

Levi looked at him sceptically. "Then why did you bring a second cup?"

Maria let him warm a second one and place it on the tray, probably assuming that Eren would also drink some. Well, that was what he had told her. It was easier than explaining that he wanted to prepare tea just for Levi. "I don't know, I haven't thought about it."

"Try it."

Eren turned back to Levi, who had closed his eyes again. "Why?"

"Since you're so certain that you'll dislike it, I bet you were merely a brat when you had some the last time. Or maybe it was brewed by some clown who doesn't make it the way Maria does."

"Maria had always been the one preparing our meals since I was born."

"And your taste has matured since then. That's why kids hate the smell of alcohol or burning cigarettes, while teenagers would stuff their faces with that shit if they can afford it. You gotta give things another chance, and see if you change your mind about them."

 _Who would've guessed that he can be philosophical._

Eren didn't see any harm in trying it again, so he poured himself a cup. He thought about holding it in the same way as Levi, but rejected it the next instant. Instead he took the cup in both of his hands. The porcelain's warmth was pleasant against his palms and spread along his forearms, giving him goosebumps. He brought the cup to his lips, and the powerful scent of jasmine petals filled his nostrils, calming his nerves. When he took a sip, his eyes widened at the light and delicate taste that slid down his throat and the heat that spread through his entire body, leaving a cozy feeling and warming him from the inside.

"Wow, last time I couldn't make out the taste at all, it was just warm water with some faint scent to me."

"And now?" Levi asked, looking pleased.

"It's sweet, but subtle. And I really can make out the jasmine flavour."

"Good. Now go get a second patch and change the wet one."

 _Uh… okay. Wait, what?_

Was Levi rewarding him for valuing the tea? If he was, he knew exactly what was going on in Eren's mind. _Okay, so there is no point in trying to act apathetic._

"I'll be right back."

Eren snatched the bowl, he had used before, and went to the bathroom to fill it up once more. He also collected a second patch as well as the ointment. When he returned shortly after, he realized that this time would be different from before. Levi was awake and Eren knew it. He was about to touch him without any shields left. So he had to be cautious about where his eyes wander off to than last time when he removed the surgical dressing.

 _Okay, you can do it. Just don't think about how good he looks in that damn shirt. He's still wounded. Focus on being helpful instead of being a burden!_

He stopped in front of the bed, unsure about how to proceed. Levi obviously noticed his hesitation as he let go of a slightly unnerved sigh, but otherwise he said nothing about it. He slipped his left arm out of his top, lifted its hem on his shoulder and laid down on his right side to face the window.

 _That's good, so there won't be any eye contact._

Eren sat down on the mattress next to Levi and focused on the task at hand. His fingers trembled as he carefully peeled off the still damp patch of the skin without pulling too hard and hurting the raw wound underneath it. Once he was done, he ripped open one pack of medical clothes and dipped them into the clean water. When he grazed the scarred skin, Levi didn't even flinch.

"Doesn't it hurt?" Eren asked absently.

"I've had worse, I'm used to it," the raven stated nonchalantly. Eren couldn't see his face, but wondered if he meant pain in general. The thought saddened him, but Levi pulled him out of it immediately.

"Oi, brat. No need to cry again."

"I'm not!" Eren said a little too loud. _How come that I'm like an open book to this man? Despite coming off cold, he seems to have a keen sense of what goes on in other people's heads. Well, at least of what goes on in my head._

Eren still wiped Levi's wounded flesh when he decided to ask him directly. "Say, how are you doing that? You always seem to notice right away when something's on my mind. Back then when we sat together at the table on Mikasa's birthday, for example. Can you read minds or something like that?" he joked.

"Don't be ridiculous." Levi paused. "I'm just good at reading people."

"Is that the reason you're always pissed at everyone around you? Because you can read people's minds? I can just imagine what those who usually keep you company think of throughout the day," Eren continued, but earnestly hoped, he hadn't put his finger on the right spot.

Levi turned his face to Eren, looking gloomy. "Aren't you listening, you shitty brat? Besides, back there in the dining room you were more or less openly staring at me and stiff like someone had rammed a stick up your arse. Wasn't that hard to make a guess."

Eren blushed when he thought of what had caused his behaviour back then. To keep his mind clear he stopped cleaning Levi's wound and continued with putting on a new patch. He opened its package, put on the ointment first and neatly placed it on his side. Eren wondered if it was normal for these kind of injuries to heal this fast. He suspected, it wasn't.

 _He certainly is different from everyone else I've ever met. Those healing abilities are unnatural._

Eren was tempted to ask about that too, but he didn't want to give Levi the impression that he was into playing Twenty Questions. So he turned around, placed his feet back on the ground whilst still sitting on the edge of the bed, and said what had been on his mind ever since the accident.

"I'm sorry, Levi. For what happened to you yesterday. I didn't take this threatening thing serious, and because of my selfishness your got hurt. I should've listened to my dad and stayed at home. It's my fault."

The sheets rustled when Levi shifted on the bed, but Eren didn't have the heart to look at him. It was hard enough to know that he was responsible for the shit that had happened - he couldn't bear the condemning face Levi was most likely giving him right now, too. So he closed his eyes and hung his head in shame.

The mattress bounced and Eren guessed that Levi had gotten up. He heard footsteps rounding the bed and stopping a mere feet away from him.

"It wasn't," Levi stated calmly.

"Of course, it was! If I hadn't-"

"Listen, brat," Levi interrupted him. "Oi, look at me when I'm talking to you."

Eren lifted his head, and was confronted by a pair of stern looking grey eyes. "The man who shot me didn't had anything to do with my current job. He wasn't after me because I'm protecting you and your sister."

"Then why did he shoot you?"

"I killed his brother eight months ago. Took him long enough to find me though."

Eren gulped.

Did his ears trick him? Levi had killed someone?

But when he thought about it, Eren had known from the second they had met that Levi was the kind of guy who could easily kill someone. His assumption had been confirmed when he saw Levi knock out the thieves yesterday. But if that was true, then Eren was sitting on the bed… of a killer. And moreover, he was attracted to such a person. While this realisation sank through the layers of his mind, a knot formed in his stomach. "Why?"

"How the fuck should I know, maybe his sources were lacking or something."

 _What? How is that an answer? Oh!_ "No, I mean, why did you kill his brother? Did he attack you first?" _Please, say yes._

"No. He was hired by a competing company and killed one of Erwin's contractors. He made us lose a valuable companion, so he had to pay for our loss."

 _It was just business to him?_

Eren knew that these kind of things happened all the time on the darker side of the global market. But he didn't want to believe that Levi was one of them; those who value money over lives. An image of his mother crossed his mind. "So, you aren't just a bodyguard."

"I'm a hitman, brat."

 _Dear Lord._ "Then, what are you doing here? This doesn't seem like a job for someone of… your calibre." He couldn't help but sound a bit condemning.

Levi's derogatory look didn't go unnoticed.

"You're right, it isn't. But your father and Erwin insisted on me taking the job."

 _There has to be someone up there mocking me._ Not only did he recently figure out that he was into guys, but he also felt attracted to someone his dad had hired and who in fact was a contract killer. _Jesus, that's a lot to drop on someone all at once._

Some time passed without neither of them saying a word. Eren was once again lost in his mind and started to lose focus. But this time, Levi didn't let him.

"You still want me to teach you combat?"

Eren raised his head with a clearly written 'huh?' on his face.

"Meet me in the basement tomorrow morning. And take a shower beforehand. I don't want you to reek of sweat before we even get started."

"But you said that there's no point in me learning it? Also, I have lessons to take in the morning."

"Okay, then we're doing it in the afternoon, two p.m. Now get out of my room. There are things I have to take care of."

Eren sat up, still confused about Levi's sudden change of mind. As well as about everything else he had just heard. He walked out and went to the next door. There were so many things on his mind and he felt overwhelmed by them. In his room, he looked around, trying to find something to distract himself with. But failed. He went into his studio and sat down next to his guitar. While eyeing it from top to bottom, his mind still spun in circles.

He felt like something was nagging on his mind. Something he didn't quite remember, like a silhouette of a blurry memory. But no matter how much he concentrated, the image in his head wasn't getting any clearer. What should he do now? He didn't know what to think of the man next door. Was he still the same person he started to admire or did the fact that he was working as a contract killer change everything? On the other hand… what did he think Levi would do to the mysterious man, he and his dad were after? When he thought about it, it had been pretty obvious what Levi was with them for. So where was the big difference between Levi killing someone to protect him or his sister and Levi who killed a man eight months ago? Oh god, did he kill the one on the roof that shot him, too? Did he even get him?.

Eren continued to perforate his mind with question after question, sitting there for an hour or more; he wasn't sure. But somewhere in-between, he had gotten certain that he wouldn't get the answers he was looking for that way. And that nothing within the four walls of his room would be able to distract him, either. So he decided to visit Armin and play the game his grandfather had sent him.

* * *

Levi changed into a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt. He dialed Erwin's number before going to go see Mr. Yeager.

The telephone ringed before he heard a deep voice answering his call. "Levi, how are you doing?"

"Fine. Hange did a good job as always. The wound's already closing. Did you figure out if the bastard was hired by someone?" Levi laid his fingertips on top of the patch underneath his shirt and poked it. It still stung, but that was to be expected.

"It seems like he acted on a purely personal grudge. No one behind the curtains. The guys picked him up right away as well as the other ones you had beaten to pulps. There aren't any records to get rid of."

That was a relief. "Good. Anything new about the target?"

"He isn't in England anymore. He took a plane to Italy this morning."

"Italy?"

"Yes, one of my men is on his heels, but we don't know his destination yet."

"Alright, keep me posted."

"Of course."

Levi hung up, and was about to make his way up to Mr. Yeager's office when the brat's disappointed face, he had made after hearing that he wasn't a mere bodyguard, crossed his mind again.

 _Stupid shit. Who does he think he is to judge me. I knew he was just some superficial little turd._

But that was only partly true. If he was convinced that the kid was one of those who are only up for looks and a bad boy attitude then there was no reason for Levi to spend more time with him. For example during training sessions to show him how to defend himself properly.

 _What did he think I would do to the man who threatens his sister when I get my hands on him? Kindly ask him to stop? Of course I'm here to kill him, that should've been obvious even to a naïve brat like him._

He realized that he was getting angry with the kid. And that could only mean that he had hoped he wasn't one of the many flat personalities he had met. But what made him hope _– no, not hope, definitely not hope –_ think that he would be any different?

 _It's those eyes. Someone who harbors such deep emotions in their eyes shouldn't have a shallow personality. I don't even need to catch his scent to know what's going on inside him. It all reflects in those huge green orbs._

It was a welcomed change from all those shady characters that tried to hide their true intentions. Not that it made much of a difference to Levi. He detected them by their smell anyway. Well, what they felt, at least.

Ultimately, nothing had really changed. He was still here to complete his job when the cocksucker would show up, and while waiting, he was left with nothing to do. And that's why he could kill some time by showing the brat how to fight. He knew the basics as far as Levi could tell after seeing how he had fought with the handbag thieves. And Levi owned Eren one for keeping his room clean while he wasn't able to do so himself. Or at least, he had tried to.

By tomorrow his lung should've healed completely. Although he sincerely doubted that the brat could cause serious damage even if he wasn't in top form.

Either way, he had to go now. Levi cleared his mind and left his room, heading to Mr. Yeager's office. He had to tell him about yesterday as well as inform him that their target had moved further away from them.

As he stepped into the hallway, he felt a familiar ripping inside his chest.

"Just when you think you'd get a break," he muttered under his breath. He had just taken care of it. _Fucking blood loss._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N** Hey you guys! I am finally done, I passed my fucking legal state exam! YIPPEY! So, I am back and to celebrate, here's the next chapter after what felt like forever (at least to me).

On a darker note, and please don't hit me, I have to enunciate an ALMOST RAPE WARNING! I don't know if it counts and it's not as bad as you might think now, but I don't want to accidently trigger someone. I wasn't sure if I should put it in, but I think it's important for the characters to evolve. And they will, I promise. It's a romance story, after all.

* * *

 **CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

The next day, Eren didn't wake up before ten o'clock. After he went to Armin's room, his friend had announced that he was going to visit his grandfather over the weekend, heading off in the morning. Eren was disappointed that he wasn't able to talk to Armin about his latest inner turmoil, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want Armin to feel guilty for leaving him when Eren would be in need for his advice. Shortly after he went back to his own room, Maria had come in and told him that his father decided to cancel all classes for at least a week due to Eren coming close to seeing a person die in his own hands. Eren wasn't sure whether he should be grateful about it or not. It took him at least a few more hours of trying to keep his thoughts away from Levi and what their latest conversation brought up in Eren, until he was finally exhausted enough to fall asleep. Now he was still lying in his bed, awake and wondering about what to do first with his recently acquired free time. The meeting with Levi wouldn't take place until noon.

But should he even go? Yesterday still weighed on his mind, but the fact remained that without Armin being around and no classes to attend, there was nothing to keep him from thinking. And he was getting sick of it. The images of his mother in her bed, of Levi taking people's lives. Man, he really needed to talk to Armin. Although his sister might've been more related to his inner trouble, she wasn't a good alternative since Eren knew what she was thinking of Levi. And his father? They didn't had the kind of close relationship to talk about things like that. So with no one to turn to and still trapped, Eren decided to accept Levi's offer. For at least the time of their training, he should be distracted from thinking. He had taken self-defence lessons in the past, but that had been almost two years ago. And he was sure, Levi would show him techniques of a whole other level.

Since Maria hadn't prepare breakfast for him, knowing that he preferred to sleep in on days where he didn't have to attend any activities in the early hours of the day, he decided to grab a bite by himself.

He went down to the kitchen and prepared a sandwich with ham and cheese, a few pieces of lettuce, and took it back up into his studio. He was determined to move on with his song now that he had so much free time at hand. After gulping down his snack, he placed the guitar in his lap and started playing the cords he had already composed. And repeated them. Over and over again. Every now and then, he found a pair that harmonised with each other and wrote them down on one of the sketch papers he had lying around. Without noticing it, he started to hum to what he played.

He spent the next three hours like this, immersed in his music. And after all those weeks coming up with nothing, he finally did make actual process. He managed to construct the framework for the first verse. Satisfied with his work he looked on his phone to see what time it was.

 _Fuck, 13.45 o'clock!_ Eren cursed mentally.

He sprung to his feet, put the guitar back in its stand, and rushed into the bathroom. Maybe he could still make it in time. He stripped and stepped into the cabin, turning on the faucet. Five minutes later he was done, and sprinted back into the bedroom in search for some training clothes.

 _Crap, must've been weeks since I last needed them. Where the fuck did I put 'em?_

Eren rummaged through his drawer, but didn't find them anywhere.

 _Shit!_ _It's impossible that they're still in the laundry. Maria would never take this long._

So he wrapped the towel he was drying his hair with around his hips, and sprinted out of his room.

 _According to the time, she must be in the kitchen to prepare lunch._ Eren ran down the stairway again, and hoped to find Maria where he assumed she would be.

When he halfway slid around the corner of the kitchen's door, he found her and blurted out: "Maria, have you seen my training clothes?"

The maid turned her head and looked bewildered at his appearance. "Sir Eren! You aren't no longer a little boy, please put on some clothes! It is highly inappropriate to run around dressed in nothing but a towel, especially this time of the year. It is freezing outside!"

 _Dammit, I don't have time for that._

 _"_ I absolutely do agree with you, but I couldn't find my training clothes. Have you seen them? Please, Maria, I really am in a hurry." He almost begged the last part.

When he was encountered with a rather horrified look on the maid's face, he didn't know what to expect next. "Oh - oh god, I am so sorry, Sir Eren. Last time I washed them, they ripped. I totally forgot to tell you. Please, forgive me my negligence."

 _You can't be serious,_ Eren's inner self said to no one in particular. _Okay, what can I do about it?… Mikasa! She has tons of training clothes._

"It's okay, Maria, don't think about it. I'll go ask Mikasa to lend me some!" He shouted, already running back upstairs towards his sister's room.

* * *

It was five past two when Eren got down to the basement. Of course, Mikasa insisted on an explanation to why in the world he needed her clothes as if his life depended on them. After he had left her in the dark about almost everything that went on between Levi and him since their little excursion into London's nightlife, she wasn't letting it slide this time. So he tried to cut it as short as possible, and just told her that Levi had accepted to train him in self-defence, and that Maria had wrecked his training clothes. But even after that, it took her years to find anything that didn't consist of a bra and some bottoms that would've been way too short for Eren.

So he was late. Maybe five minutes wouldn't get him a lecture about punctuality. His eyes met the older man's.

 _Aaaand he looks pissed again. Oh, but who've I been thinking about? Of course a clean freak would also have a thing for being on time._

"Hey, sorry I'm a little late," he said as he approached Levi, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

Levi placed his eyes on him, looking as stern as ever. "Never let me wait again, got that?"

Eren stood straight, raising his flat hand against his temple, saluting-style.

"Yes, Sir!" he joked.

"Cut the bullshit, and tell me what you want to start with? Offence or defence?"

Since it was supposed to be a self-defence lessons, Eren wasn't prepared for this question. "I don't know, I thought we'd focus on defence?"

Levi looked like he had already grown annoyed by this. "Sometimes, offence is the best defence. Never heard of it? Let me ask again, so that you can understand: do you want to be the one who attacks or should I play this part?"

 _Ah, that's where he's coming from._ "I think I'll try offence first."

Levi stood laterally to Eren. "Very well. Come at me."

"What, we start with actually combat? No instructions first?"

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. "First, no, in an actual combat I would fight back. This time I will simply block your attacks. And second, I want to see what you're capable of now, so I know where we have to start."

Eren still hesitated.

"What, you wanna quit?"

"No, of course not. Alright, let's start."

The problem was that Eren didn't know how. Should he just throw punches at him? He started to circle Levi, never breaking eye contact with him. He was so quiet that Eren started to wonder if he was even breathing. Unable to find any openings in Levi's posture, he just tried his luck and launched his first punch, aiming straight for Levi's face. But instead of blocking it, Levi made a step aside, letting Eren swing his fist into empty air what made him lose his balance and stumble forward. He straightened up and tried again, this time with less strength so he wouldn't run out of stamina too fast, and to combine a few punches in a row. But every one of them ended in either hitting at anything at all or being blocked by hands that were too fast for Eren's eyes to follow. While he had been careful at the beginning, because he had actually feared to land a strike on Levi, he was beginning to get serious. His height must give him some kind of advantage, right? He just had to find a way to put it to use.

But he didn't had a chance. Every time he felt something touching his fist, wrist or forearm, there was only the feeling of it. He never saw Levi actually touching him. Before he even realized that there had been some kind of contact, Levi was already in front of him again, standing perfectly still.

 _How is he doing it, for god's sake?_

Eren continued trying, but after a few more minutes of nothing but failure his mood shifted into frustration. Without thinking, he aimed for Levi's mid-section, trying to tackle him down to the mats. When his arms actually wrapped around his opponent's waist against all expectations, he was lost for a moment, and so he didn't realized what was happening next until it was too late. He felt weight upon his back, and a pair of arms snug around his own belly. Next thing he knew was that he was lifted up into the air, further and further until he was upside down. But Levi didn't stop there. Eren felt his gravity's centre shifting backwards and a sheer endless moment later, his vision went black, and all air was knocked out of his lungs. Strangling pain settled throughout his entire body as he tried to get air back into his body. But he felt like there was water in his lungs that stopped the air from coming in. Slowly, the awareness of his situation set it. He was lying on his back. On the ground. There was a shadow towering over him, and one by one, the little white dots that entered his vision united to a silhouette of Levi against the white light of the lithium tubes above him.

"Sit up or the air won't get back into your lungs," he heard Levi say.

 _But fuck!_ , Eren's whole body was in agony.

Still, no air was worse than pain, so he sat up despite every one of his cells screamed at him to stop.

Once he was up, his surviving instincts took over and made him gasp for air. He left his lungs fill with air, and promptly he started to cough.

"That's better. I'll give you a minute before we continue."

 _What?! Has he lost his fucking mind? I almost died, you prick!_

Eren's mind was back on track, but his body wasn't. So instead of screaming at the man next to him, he still struggled with breathing the pain away.

"The pain will go away quickly, believe me."

Eren took another couple of deep breaths before he finally was able to speak again, although with a croaking voice: "Easy to… say for… someone… who treats a… punctuated lung… like it's a splinter…"

But the more seconds vanished, the better his body felt.

"I might be tough, but I know about basic physical functions. Right now your body gave you every signal of being in mortal danger. That way, your instincts are trying to get you to move away from your situation. I haven't dealt any real damage, so the pain will vanish fast."

And _fuck him_ , but he was right.

It felt like an eternity to Eren, but after a few more minutes, the pain was going away. "Shit, didn't you say, you weren't going to attack?" Finally, Eren was able to move again, and looked up at Levi.

"I wasn't. I simply used your own force against you. But that aside, you're relying too much on your upper body. You ain't no boxer. You should learn how to use your legs as well. They have much more power as their muscle groups are larger. Additionally, your attacks will be less predictable, and you'll have a larger range of motion. I don't know whether the guy who taught you was a retard or just incompetent, but we'll start pretty much from scratch."

 _Great, can't wait for it._

"I told you, he taught me self-defence. Nothing more." Eren got up to his feet again, his back still aching, but it wasn't as bad anymore.

"Okay, then let's see if you're any better at defending. You ready?" Levi positioned himself frontally.

Eren tried to remember what he had learned in the past. Dodge the first blow, attack while your opponent is still unbalanced. He moved into the position he had been taught. Fists up, left shoulder front, right one back, the right fist behind the left one, and feet in a diagonal position that allows one to move back and front as well as sideways without losing balance.

"Ready."

He was back on his ass before he could've counted to 'one'.

One second, Levi was standing in front of him, the next he vanished, and something kicked his feet out from under him, causing Eren to land hard on the mats. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Levi crouching on the floor next to him.

"Your defending posture isn't bad, but far from perfect, too. I've seen enough. Let's start with actually training, now."

Somehow, he made it sound as if so far it had all been to his amusement. And considering the outcome, it most likely was. Both of them got up, and Levi showed him different punches and kicking movements. Most of the time his instructions were verbal, but from time to time he had to correct Eren's position himself. And now that Eren wasn't distracted by an actual fight, he found it hard to concentrate when Levi did touch him. His hands and fingertips just felt good on his skin wherever he put them. And Eren truly became annoyed by himself. Obviously, his inner turmoil about the man who taught him, hadn't reached his physical feelings yet. But, thank the lord, their contact was mostly limited to mere fractions of seconds. They went on for a good two hours and Eren, although he admittedly had good stamina, was getting tired and sore. He used to work out down here at least twice a week, but he had let this training slip the past few months, and now muscles he didn't even know he had were hurting.

"Good, let's spar again and see what you've learned."

 _Oh no, is he serious?_ If Eren wasn't able to take him on when he was well rested, then he would be even less capable with his current state of exhaustion.

But he did agree to this, didn't he? So Eren switched into his newly taught stance, and waited for Levi to attack.

When he finally did, Eren was amazed at the feeling of actually having gotten better. Although Levi was still fast as hell, Eren was able to follow his movements and block a few of his punches. His kicks still hit him, but not so hard that they made him fly across the room. Eren tried to attack as well, but he found switching between offence and defence rather difficult. He lost his focus on Levi for a second, but it was enough for the other man to bring him down again. He felt his right arm being grabbed, and all of a sudden Levi jumped into the air, using his arm as a pivot point, circled around him, and landed straight on his back, Eren's hips tightly clenched between Levi's knees. The impact of Levi landing on his back caused Eren to fall down face first, but he managed to absorb some of his fall with his free arm.

Next thing he knew, he was lying on his stomach, one arm firmly held behind his back in a rather unpleasant angle. He tried to push himself up with the other one, but Levi was still on top of him, pinning him down.

What happened next was out of Eren's control.

The only remaining feeling were Levi's legs on either side of his hips, his loins pressing against Eren's butt, and the heat that accumulated in the pit of his stomach, spreading through his entire body.

 _Oh shit, no! Please god,_ ** _NO_ **_!_

Eren's muscles clenched as warmth gathered in his guts, his member becoming hard as a rock and faster than he could have said _sweetbabyjesus_. That he just had spent two hours of hard training and been tackled down to the ground, what hurt like hell by the way, didn't seem of interest to his body in the slightest. His face was on fire as he begged to a god he didn't believe in anymore that Levi wouldn't notice. But when had he ever, EVER not noticed something!?

* * *

"Good, now let's spar again and see what you've learned."

Levi had to restrain himself from laughing at the desperate look on the boy's face. But he didn't complain. Instead he moved into the posture, Levi had shown him.

He had to admit, he was surprised by boy. He was learning fast and his endurance was worth mentioning. He had implemented most of what Levi had shown him today at a pretty decent pace. However, he was still no match for Levi, of course. Hell, he would never be.

But it wasn't his first time teaching rookies in combat. Over the years Erwin had dragged along dozens of new candidates for him to train. And he found that a combat after each lesson lifted their spirits and encouraged them to endure his training. But that wasn't everything Levi came up with. It was even more effective when he adapted this own abilities to his student's in the ending combats, so that they got the illusion of making even greater progress. Of course, he never went so far to deliberately let himself be defeated. But nevertheless it was rather effective.

So he did the same with Eren. He throttled his speed and didn't strike as hard as at the beginning. He let a few of Eren's punches past his defence, but then he noticed that the brat suddenly wanted too much at once. While effort might be praiseworthy, losing your focus surely wasn't. So there was an opportunity to teach him another lesson. Levi launched one of his favourite moves to bring his opponent to the ground. He sprung on Eren's back and used his force to push him down. Eren was helpless against such an attack and Levi knew it. But now sitting on the boy's back, he once more noticed that Eren had a very beneficial built. He was tall with long legs, lean hips, and a broad chest. His body was quite well proportioned overall. He would have to put on some more muscles to be more stabilized, but that would come naturally when he'd continue to train with Levi.

Levi was pulled out of his evaluation when a strong smell exploded within the room. An ambivalent scent of arousal and embarrassment flooded his nose, and since he had gotten quite used to it, it wasn't hard to guess where it came from. The little shit underneath him had some nerve to get aroused in a situation like this.

But this time it didn't leave Levi completely unaffected either. Admittingly, Eren's scent was getting to him. The boy normally smelt good already, but in this state, he was simply delicious. If only his embarrassment wouldn't stain it.

Without thinking, Levi leaned down, his nose barely touching Eren's neck, and he breathed in deeply. He wanted to take in the pleasant part of his scent apart from all the rest, so he tried to filter it. He smelled a spicy-balsamic prelude of absinth and red basil at the top exuded a delightful freshness, but was quickly replaced by tarter notes. Patchouli and pimento met in a sensual liaison and were enhanced by the sweet chords of peppers, giving his fragrance a warm touch.

His _urge_ was coming back full force, and before Levi got a chance to get out of there, it took control of him, devoured him, leaving him empty except for this one basic instinct. Levi stayed in his position and placed his lips next to Eren's ears.

"You're such a horny brat," he purred and felt the brat's body heat rise even higher. "Is that what you're after, you kinky shit? A fast way to lose your goddamn virginity? I assure you, you're on the right track. I could take you right here on these sweat dripping mats. You just have to tell me what is it that you want."

Shit, what was he doing? Somehow, deflowering his client's teenage son didn't occur Levi as a good way to let off steam. It hadn't been long since the last time anyway, so why was he so loaded?

 _It must be the boy's scent._

 _Bullshit, it's because of the blood loss from the fucking gunshot! It must've shortened my time span._

Levi tried to get a grip when suddenly the brat found the guts to answer, throwing a big can of fuel into his fire.

"I want you," he said between a halfly stifled moan.

A warm shiver rolled over Levi's skin. "What do you want me to do?" he growled, inhaling that sinful scent once more.

There was a long pause and mentally Levi had already pulled down the brunette's shorts, and buried himself deep inside of him.

"I want-," Eren stammered, and just as Levi was about to turn him around on his back to attack his throat, he heard a dull but ear-splitting sound coming from somewhere across the room.

His head snapped up and he searched for the sound's origin, senses back on alert. At the other end of the room he saw one of the staff's members coming through the door that lead down to the basement, pulling up a bucket on wheels behind him, mop in hand.

 _Fuck!_ What was he doing here? Nausea crawled its way from his stomach up to his throat.

Levi got off Eren, trying to keep his legs steady.

He looked up and his eyes fixed on the guy on the ground who slowly turned to face him. And the sight that greeted him scattered a bit of Levi's worldview. There he was, lying on his back, nothing but lust and desire shining in those glassy bottomless eyes, his breath ragged while his shirt was pushed halfway up his stomach, revealing nicely defined abs that tensed with every time he exhaled through his glistening lips. And to top it all, Levi saw his erection being big enough to almost sneak out of his waistband.

He was fucking unbearable in his innocence. He obviously and absolutely didn't had a clue what Levi could do to him. That he could tear him apart in over sixty different ways in a blink of any eye. What he wanted to do to him. He just laid there, with those honest and desiring eyes directed at him. Only because he's so goddamn naive. He shouldn't look at someone like him that way. It was wrong. Just wrong!

"Leave," Levi whispered, lowering his eyes again.

But his voice was too low for the boy to hear.

 _Fuck_. "Leave," he said again, louder and more stern this time.

"What did-," Eren stood up, confusion written all over his beautiful face.

Just as the boy was about take a step in Levi's direction, Levi couldn't find another way to help himself.

"Get the fuck out of here!" he suddenly screamed, louder than he intended, and making not only Eren stare at him in shock, but also the employee who had been starting to wipe the floors.

He didn't dare to take another look in Eren's direction, fearing that his eyes would betray him, exposing what he really was.

After what seemed like forever, he heard silent footsteps moving away from him, and only then did Levi notice that he had held his breath. When the rushing between his ears slowly faded, he listened to the sound of bare feet walking across the basement's linoleum floor, of a hand that gripped a metal handle. A door closing. Nothing was left despite the consistent wiping and water-dropping caused by an obviously well-trained housekeeper who wasn't sticking his nose where it didn't belong, and it screamed _lonesome_ at him like nothing else had for a long time.

 _I have to do something._


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** I am so terribly sorry it took me so long to get this chapter on page, but it really was an absolute bit** to me. I even had to change some minor details in the pasts chapters to keep the flow going. So to spare you from rereading the last two ones, here they are: Eren hadn't talked to Armin about Levi being an hitman (since Armin decided to visit his grandpa over the weekend) and Eren still hadn't found his peace with what Levi is doing, either. Additionally, some images from his mother crossed Eren's mind when he was talking to Levi in his room. I hated to have to change the already posted chapters so much, but it was a necessary evil. I hoped you're not too annoyed with me, and without further ado:

* * *

 **CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

Levi had moved one room further and over to the chin-up bar, facing the concrete wall. As he continued set after set of pull-ups, his hands were numb, and he felt like his biceps were being peeled from his bones with dull knives And that was just mindless chatter in comparison to his shoulders. They were the real problem. Someone clearly had come up from behind, put varnish stripper across them, and then buffed them with an industrial sander.

He had no idea how many reps he had done. No clue how many miles he had run. No count of the sit-ups, squats, or lunges.

He just knew he had to keep going.

Goal: total exhaustion. He wanted to pass out the moment he went upstairs and got horizontal on his bed.

Dropping from the bar, he put his hands on his hips, lowered his head, and breathed heavily. His right shoulder immediately seized up, but that was his dominant side, so he expected it. To loosen the knot of muscle, he swept his arm around in a big circle.

There was no time to lose.

He hopped on some random machine that was next to him. Fate chose the Butterfly machine as his next tool to torture himself. After adjusting the pin on the stack of weight, he settled onto the padded seat, gripped the double handles, and started pushing out from his chest. Forth. Back. Breathing.

Until his lights got switched off. Completely. Otherwise those images and the nausea would be coming back.

Half an hour later Levi collapsed on his seat, making the weights rattle in their sockets. He did it. He didn't feel a single muscle anymore. The ceiling could be melting and breaking down above him, he wouldn't notice.

This was one of his more favoured techniques to get his urge under control. And since the man who had caused all this to start with was somewhere out of the country, Levi allowed himself to revert to this method. Otherwise him being barely able to move would mean risking his job's success.

With the little strength that was left, Levi dragged himself up and out of the weight lifting room. It was 3:30 a.m. and the house was so quiet, he could've heard a speck of dust falling on the carpet. This was good. It matched the silence in his head.

He arrived in his room and fell flat on the bed. No way, he would make it to the shower. He hated the feeling of his own sweat drying on his skin, but he didn't deserve any better. Just as sleep promised to take him to a land of dreamless slumber, all his effort proved to be in vain. There it was again. The brunette's image entered his mind without a warning sign.

Levi put one hand over his mouth and nose, and tried to keep his breathing even.

He didn't get it.

He didn't get him.

How was it possible that the boy still looked at him like that after what Levi had done? He was dangerous and at least that should've been obvious to the brat. He had seen Levi beating the shit out three men almost twice his size, and was in immediate proximity when he had slit the throat of the sniper who shot him. Sure, he hadn't seen it, though. But Eren knew who Levi was. What he did for a living. And even if it was only half of the truth about the abysses that were his existence, it sure should've been enough for the boy to back away. But he didn't. He hadn't even been afraid of him. Not once.

It just wasn't possible. The boy had to have not a single idea about what Levi almost did to him. In what kind of danger he had been it. What Levi could have done to him.

Allowing him to get closer had been mindless. Something Levi had to undo.

He still wasn't sure what causes his extreme reaction to the boy, but it didn't matter in the end. He needed a way to stay in control as long as this job lasted. Going out again might had been an option, but since he didn't know whether it really was the recent blood-loss that made him act that way, he didn't want to takes chances.

Without looking, he swung his arm on the nightstand and grabbed his cellphone. He dialed, and waited for the voice at the other end to appear.

"It's almost four o'clock in the morning, you know that?"

"You're not sleeping anyway."

"What can I do for you, Levi?"

"Call Hange and tell her to send over some packages, please."

"Courtesy instead of insults? You got me worried. What's up with you?" Levi rolled over to his side, looking out the window.

"Fuck you. Nothing." He paused. "I simply wonder if I really should be grateful for you picking me up back then."

He could hear Erwin taking a deep breath before he continued. "What happened?"

"Nothing, as I said. Forget it. Just tell Hange."

"The packages never really worked and you know that. Ask Grisha to give you the night off, and everything will be fine. I found out where he's staying in Italy, and I have my eyes on him." Levi knew that Erwin's last statement referred to the guy he was after.

Levi already figured the answer, but he still asked: "If you know where he is, then why don't you just get him?"

"It's not that easy, unfortunately. If I intervene now, I might face greater problems than you being pissed at me for taking too long."

"I assume, he has some connections as well?"

"I'm afraid, he does. But that's not the subject at hand. Ask Grisha, I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with it."

"I don't even know if that'd be a solution. But if it isn't, then I'd have to do it again without it being fruitful. If the packages won't work, I can still fall back to the other option."

"Fine, I'll let her know. Then, enjoy yourself," Erwin said with a quite bitter voice.

"Fuck you."

Levi hung up. He knew that this wasn't the safest of all solutions, but it was the best he could come up with at this point. He rolled back onto his back, eyes closing.

* * *

One room further, Eren heard Levi coming upstairs and entering the room next door. After his body had cooled down, he had dreaded the hours that would be coming. Sitting in his room felt like being in a cage, and now it was much too late for him to be out and running down the hallways. Still… God, he was so restless he could taste the agitation in his mouth. And that there was no one he could talk to made him ache. More than any training session ever could.

Those memories were back. Hospital beds. Needles. Bags of drugs hanging next to her. In an awful mental snapshot, he saw her head bald and her skin gray and her eyes sunken until she didn't look like herself, until she wasn't herself.

That was shortly before the screaming had started. Before she started rejecting him when he came to her to help. Not that he had been able to. Nothing could've helped her then.

She had looked at him with the same kind of fear and despair like he'd seen in Levi's eyes this evening. Like she didn't want him to see. Like he didn't want to be seen at all.

It's been so long since he had successfully steeled himself against those memories of his mother that had caused him so much pain over the following years. And now they were back, out in the open, raining down on him like a heavy storm.

Eren squeezed his eyes shut.

Levi wasn't good for him. Not if he made him remember those awful times.

He didn't care for the lives of others. And Eren couldn't stand people who think that way. People to who life didn't mean something. Not after losing his mother that way.

 _Levi is not good._

His whole attempt had been insane. To expose himself the way he did to someone who isn't just possessing frighteningly strength and speed, is way better at hand-to-hand combat, but also evidently had a tendency to violent behaviour. What he had said to him. The way he took those thieves apart. What the hell had he been thinking? That a man like him would be all upside down and gentle all of a sudden when he came across the innocent advances of someone like him? He must've lost his fucking mind the second this man stepped into their house.

 _Levi is not good._

And there was a huge difference between bodyguards and hitmen. The first are protecting people, even if it also might be for the money in the end, but hitmen are the aggressors. The ones who are bent on hurting people. And Levi was one of them.

 _Levi is not good._

 _This has to stop._

* * *

Later that day, after every member of the house had their good cap of sleep, some more, some less, Levi was still in his room. Maria had brought him his breakfast when he didn't show up in the dining room, and since then he was sitting on his bed, not knowing what to do with himself.

Silence… silence… silence…

When the sound of his heartbeat started to annoy him, Levi cursed and stretched up, turning on the lights. As he settled back against the pillows, he let his arms flop down. Anything was better than the quiet. Fishing around the sheets, he found the remote, and when he hit the TV's on-button, there was a pause like the thing had forgotten what it was used for - but then the picture flared.

Terminator 2 was on, some fake court show and a few flat-humoured sitcoms. _Trust them to put nothing worth watching on their channels on a saturday noon._

He caught Maria's scent coming from the hallway and heard a knock on his door. He got up to answer it and was greeted by her struggling to heave a huge suitcase off the ground. _That was fast._

"You should've told me to get it myself. It is too heavy for you," he remarked dryly.

"It's my pleasure, Mr.-," she stopped. "Levi."

He took the suitcase from her and put it down inside his room, next to the door. "I don't want to be disturbed for the next hour."

"Of course not." Maria turned on her heels and was gone. Levi closed the door and went back to his bed, suitcase in hand. He placed it on the mattress, typed in the numbers on the safety lock, and the top sprung open, revealing a dozen of neatly packed transfusion packs.

This really wasn't his favourite strategy, but it was the fastest and most uncomplicated way to see what was keeping him on the edge. Although he didn't like the idea of doing in here in the house, he took one of the packs, and lied down next to the suitcase.

He took a long sniff of the plastic bag in his hand. Smelling the blood, he felt his canines elongating two times their size. Levi bared his fangs, hissing down low in his throat, becoming the deadly animal that humans made up all kind of horror mythology around.

He shoved his hand in his pants, and what he had his palm on was ready to go.

Wrapping his palm around himself, he let out a moan, and his head fell back. He felt his smooth skin gliding over an iron-hard core as he began to move in his grip. Slow at first, and then with increasing urgency. It didn't take long for his body to take over completely, pumping wild into his own hand.

His mind became foggy over the minutes, and out of the blue, images of him and Eren were lighting him up from the inside out. He saw them on his bed, naked, Eren straddling his hips, and Levi reaching up to touch Eren's chest. He felt good and solid on top of him, his erection hard and hot against his own. His body arching as he rubbed himself on what arched to penetrate him.

Levi needed to get inside of him.

The instinct was overwhelming, and he sat up to take one of Eren's nipples into his mouth. As he drew his tender flesh between his lips, sucking on it, tonguing it, Levi knew this wasn't happening. And that even in his mind, it was wrong. Yet, the vision had too much momentum and his palm too much grip as he worked himself.

There was no going back. This fantasy was too undeniable and electric to turn away from. Levi imagined rolling Eren over onto his back and looming above him, looking down in his emerald eyes. His legs were split on either side of Levi's hips, sex and entrance ready for what he wanted to give him.

Baring his fangs, Levi ran one sharp white tip around his areola, circling, stroking. In a quick move, he struck him and a sliver of blood was drawn.

Levi was captivated by the bead of deep red that bloomed up, and eased down the side of the other man's chest. Leading with his tongue, he caught the trail and swept it back home with a flick that ended at one of Eren's nipples. Levi's whole body shimmered at the taste of him, a release shuddering out of him and marking their skins as he fell into the throes of his orgasm.

Lifting his lips from the other's chest, he placed one hand against Eren's entrance, tracing the taut muscles he found. Oh God, he was slippery smooth and hot, ready and arching to receive him. Levi repositioned himself so that his glossy cock was poised over those open legs...

The heady flavour in his mouth was replaced by the taste of plastic, and Levi was torn away from his fantasy, with nothing more than pieces of the bag he'd practically ripped apart left between his teeth. As he was coming down from his high, he noticed that the blood had traveled down his cheeks and landed on the pillow underneath his head. He looked down at his partly exposed body, and saw the release he'd had, the one he'd imagined he'd had on Eren, being all over his belly and the sheets.

Why did that spell out _alone_ like nothing else could?

His hand was still on his messy, jerking cock, but he felt quiet. Calm.

The urge was gone.

Levi pulled his hand out from his boxers, stood up and headed for the shower, throwing the empty bag in the trashcan next to the toilet. In the shower, he washed himself quickly, starting with his cock. This was the first time, he'd actually thought about someone specific while doing this. When he had first tried this method, it always had been faceless men and women, silhouettes of memories from other times he'd released himself with them, and he had never felt calm afterwards. Which was why he excluded this alternative for getting himself steady. Those anonymous encounters he had in the past were hardly enough in reality, and remembering them gave him less than nothing.

So, he was kind of glad that now there was another option for him. Questions about why it had been Eren who he had to think about, Levi skilfully put off, and blamed it on their latest physical proximity as well as the fact, that Eren's scent wasn't leaving his nose anymore.

Thinking about the brat again, Levi came up with the idea of putting his newly found tranquility to a test. He had to clear some things up with him, anyways. When he came out of the bathroom again, he skipped through the channels until he passed the one where he could see the camera recordings. The boy was walking down the first hallway, heading for the main hall. Levi put some clothes on and strode out his room's door.

When he stepped down the stairs, he caught the scent of sadness, a muddy strike of damp earth and freshly fallen rain in his nose. The brat was coming straight at him, his eyes glued to his feet, and he almost crashed into Levi at the stair's bottom. "Oi, brat. Watch where you're going."

The mop of brown hair lifted and those eyes, Levi was so fascinated with, were dull. As if someone had sucked out the light they normally hold. Anger crawled up Levi's spine.

"What happened, brat?" he asked in a harsh tone. But the second, Eren hold his gaze, he had already settled his eyes back on the ground in front of him.

"If something happened, you have to tell me." Was is him or did he sound a bit possessive? Levi shoved the thought back again, and stepped right in the spot where Eren was staring at, looking him straight in the face. But those green eyes stayed averted from his. Just wandered a few inches left to his shoes.

"Oi, brat, look at me," he demanded, searching his face and arms for bruises, but found none.

"I'm fine. It's not of your _business_ ," Eren finally answered, his last word leaking like poison from his lips. He was bitter.

"If something's wrong, it is my fucking _business_ ," Levi mimicked his tone, getting even angrier. Did this sucker not know what he was fucking here for?

The kid kept his lips shut, and Levi noticed that this was getting him nowhere. If the brat didn't want to talk, it was fine with him. Played him right in the cards for building up the distance between them again. The only problem was that he had seriously assumed to get another reaction from him, and that now his little experiment about his own reaction to the kid was in vain. He wanted to see if his urge would come back after his release when he caught his sweet scent again. But now? What might've happened after they parted yesterday? Surely, his little outburst at the end couldn't cause such a drastic change of mind, could it? Not after everything else that had happened and didn't seem to affect the brat. On the other hand, maybe he had finally realized what he was about to get himself into with his advances.

Levi tried to tell himself that this was only good for both of them. That now he had one thing less to worry about. The problem was that a very small part of his brain didn't buy it. Moreover, he really didn't like the way the brat smelled. This muddy soil was nothing compared to his otherwise fresh, vivid scent. He found himself missing it a bit. He hadn't smelled it since the first time they had met. Ever since then, it had been replaced by embarrassment, sadness, irritation or arousal, whereby the letter bothered him the least.

He noticed that none of them had said anything for a few minutes, and the silence had grown awkward. "Fine. I was looking for you to talk about yesterday. I'm s-"

"Don't worry about that, either," Eren interrupted him. "I've lost interest in training, so whatever you've wanted to talk about, it doesn't matter anymore. If you excuse me, I have to go to my studio."

Without another word, Eren slipped past him and up the stairs. Levi's eyes followed him, narrowed, and he wondered what has gotten into the kid. This whole time, Eren hadn't once looked at him, and considering that he wasn't able to keep his eyes from Levi before yesterday, this really was a quick change.

Levi was about to follow and confront him, but once again he had to remind himself that it was better that way. He wanted it that way. Now, it was the brat who build a barrier instead of him. All the better, and less inconvenient.

Levi went down to the gym to hit the barbells. He was back to waiting for that cocksucker of threatening ass.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

A few days elapsed without anything really happening. Most of the time Levi was down in the gym, occupying his minds with training. It was also convenient that it was the place he most likely was alone. The girl was the only one down there on a daily basis, except for some cleansing staff, and they found a way of silent agreement to work together and apart from another at the same time. At the beginning, Levi caught her irritation from time to time when she was secretly eyeing him. He assumed that she was wondering about the extents of weights he was lifting. She had made it very clear the first time they met that she thought him to be a weakling due to his height, but now she witnessed otherwise.

And he was watching her as well. The way she trained and moved. She had something graceful to her that made him remember another female he tried to avoid thinking about. Not that there was much to remember. It were only fractions of habits and manners left somewhere deep inside his mind. The sound of a voice. The feeling of a hand brushing alongside his back, soothing.

At some point, he was tempted to go over to her and give her some advice about how to improve in whatever she was doing. But he never did. Erwin often had told him that he was a natural teacher, and maybe hearing it time after time it had gotten to his head. Nevertheless, he stuck to watching her, and after a while he found himself relaxing in her presence. He could tell that she was feeling the same way. Although they hadn't talked once, they glided into their common routine easier every day with nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement. It didn't feel foreign anymore.

If only the same could be said about the other two kids. The blonde boy still shied away every time Levi looked at him although he tried to hide his fear behind a polite smile. And the brunette… Well, the brat didn't talk to him anymore. Didn't even look at him. Levi did his best to ignore it, distracting himself with training, reading or getting into another round of feed'n'jerk. It kept him in check although this particular topic became less a problem since the brat stopped being near him. At least in reality. In his mind, especially during his little sessions, he always was present. The thoughts of him didn't leave Levi's mind once. He couldn't stop pondering about what made him act so differently all of a sudden. First, he thought that maybe it was just a fleeting change of mind, caused by something stupid like a dump that wouldn't come out or whatever else. But even after some more days passed, it didn't stop. And while it shouldn't be of interest to him, he had to admit that it was. It bothered him. When late at night Levi was alone in his room, lying on the king-size bed, his senses reached out to the room next door to search for the kid's emotional corset. And every time, he cursed himself for doing so, but even more when he felt him being unchanged. The scent and the hollowness didn't suit the brat. Something must have happened, and not knowing what was started to bug him. He even acted the same around his sister and his little friend, so it had to be something serious.

There only had been one time, that corset was briefly broken when Hanji had come around to check on his gunshot wound. After she finished her inspection and checked for his vitals, she slipped some little information about his body acting on its own when he was on her table with her hands inside him. While Levi caught her by the neck and pushed her up some random wall that was close to him, the mixed smell of embarrassment and slight arousal mingled in his nose, steaming off from the boy. Levi was almost glad to smell it again, but when he looked at the brat, he quickly reverted his eyes, and the moment was gone before he felt Hanji's assistants trying to pull him away from their chef.

Now that he was down in the basement once again, he was just about to finish his workout for the day. He was alone since the girl was up and probably still eating dinner with her family. Pushing the barbell back on its stand, he breathed out the air he had been holding. Grabbing his water bottle and taking a huge swallow, he made his way up the stairs and through the entrance hall.

To his right, he heard the sounds of a full dining room; the soft clinking of silver on china, indistinct words from Maria, a chuckle from the girl… then Mr. Yeager's deep voice cutting in. There was a pause, probably because the blond boy made a face, and then everyone's laughter mingled, spilling out like gleaming marbles across a clean floor. Everyone's except for one.

Levi wasn't interested in tangling with them, much less eating with them. Would he have heard the green-eyed boy laughing, he maybe would have stopped to listen to the sound, but he didn't. So, Levi hit the grand staircase, taking two steps at a time. The faster he went the more muted the meal's noises became, and the quiet suited him. In front of his door he saw a serving tray with tableware with a cup of tea and some meal covered by a dinner bell lying on the floor. It had become a habit of Maria to not serve him his meals personally since he once again was eating alone in his room, almost as if the maid noticed the boy's changed behaviour as well, and instinctively blamed him for it. She probably was right.

Levi picked up the tray, and headed inside to eat his dinner at the little table next to the window. It was placed in here after he moved in because Maria couldn't bear the thought of a guest having to eat on his bed due to the lack of other possibilities. When he finished, he grabbed a handful of cleansing stuff and went for the second round this day. He dusted the furniture's surfaces, scrubbed the toilet and shower cabin as well as the bathroom's tiles before returning to the bedroom to wipe the floor. When he wanted to get to the mirrors and windows, he noticed that the spray bottle with window cleanser nearly was empty. It wouldn't be enough to get everything done, so Levi went out the door to ask Maria for some more, tracking her scent.

* * *

Eren was in his room, walking aimlessly from one corner into another. He was trying to keep his mind as blank as possibly, and he got better at it with each passing day. It was the same as back then when he finally decided to stop the crying and mourning. Although those therapists and his father and basically everyone else who talked to him said that he had to process those feeling, it wasn't getting him anywhere. There seemed to be no end to it. And his mother wanted him to keep living happily. It took him weeks to realize that the only way working for him was shutting the hurting memories and feelings out. To pretend that they've never been there. He tried to do the same now.

He walked into his bathroom and glanced at his reflection. The man in the mirror didn't look at him. He looked right past him, through to him indeed. Somewhere back in his mind, Eren didn't believe that he was looking at himself. He felt like a stranger in his own skin. As he turned around to go, not willing to think about that as well, not willing to think at all, he slammed right into someone's chest. The impact was like getting hit with a car and a hand reached out to steady him. The scent of soap and spices drifted into his nose.

Oh, no. No touching.

Eren stepped back quickly and stared out into the bedroom. "Sorry."

There was an odd pause. "She's not here."

Duh. No one's here. "Who are you talking about?"

"Maria. She's been in here. Do you know where she is?"

Eren blinked at his words. Had there been someone in his room. He hadn't left since he went up after dinner. Well, now that he said it, it was possible. Eren didn't recall what he'd been doing since then, so it was possibly that he didn't recognize anything else either. He tried to remember. "I guess, she was here gathering some laundry to shove it down the chute," he said, mentioning to the hole in the wall. "Maybe she went to the washing room."

Levi leaned to the side and put his face, that beautiful face, in the line of Eren's vision. When the guy straightened, Eren's eyes followed because they simply had to.

"You don't look at me anymore."

No, he didn't. "Yes, I do."

Desperate to get away from that stare, Eren cut himself some slack and went over to one towel hanging next the sink. Wadding it up, he shoved the thing down the laundry chute although it was perfectly clean, and damn if the cramming didn't help a little. Especially as he imagined it was his own head he was forcing into the hole.

Eren was calmer when he turned around. Even met those piercing grey eyes. "I'm going to the living room." He was feeling quite proud of himself as he walked by-

Levi's hand snapped out and latched onto his forearm, stopping him dead. "We have a problem. You and me."

"Do we." Not a question. Because this was one conversation he had no interest in encouraging.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Levi asked him.

Eren blinked again. What was wrong with him? He wasn't the one slaughtering people for fun. No, he was the pathetic idiot who pined for a such a man. Which put him into wee-wee-wee-all-the-way-home territory. Any closer to chicking out and he'd have to carry Kleenex tucked into his sleeve to catch his tears.

Unfortunately, the flash of anger deflated fast and left him hollow.

"Nothing. There's nothing wrong."

"Bullshit," the other man spat.

Right. Okay. This way unfair. Levi might be an emotionless killer who didn't care for people's lives, but the guy's memory was perfectly functional. And Eren did act differently around him. Differently all together.

"Levi…" Eren shoved a hand into his hair. On cue, that fucking Bonnie Raitt song shot into his brain, her rich voice singing… I can't make you love me if you don't… You can't make your heart feel something it won't…

Eren had to laugh. Here he was standing after days of trying to forget the memories the man in front of him and his stupid career choice digged up, confident that he was over his naive little crush on him, when his mind teached him otherwise. He felt like the little weakling he was, and nothing like the strong and proud man he so yearned to be.

"What's so funny, brat?"

"Is it possible to be castrated without being aware of it?"

Now Levi was doing the blink before narrowing his eyes. "Not unless you're really fucking drunk."

* * *

The next day's evening, Levi was back under the earth. He and Eren parted after their little encounter without another word, and Levi knew that there was nothing he could do to change his mind. The brat didn't want to be around him, didn't even want to talk to him, and Levi was still busy convincing himself that it was for the better. The moment, the brat ran into him, the scent of his grief intensified and Levi didn't want to cause the brat this kind of pain. He knew it well enough himself.

When he finished with the weights, he got on the treadmill and started running. The first five miles fly by. By six miles, he'd polished off his water. When mile nine arrived, the ass-kicking started.

He increased the incline and fell back into his stride. His thighs were screaming, clenching, burning. His lungs were on fire. His feet and knees were aching.

Grabbing the shirt he'd taken off and hung on the console, he used the thing to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. He figured he was dehydrated as shit by now, but he wasn't getting off for water. He had every intention of going until he fell over.

To keep the bruising pace, he lost himself in the music pounding through the speakers. Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana. The stuff was loud enough to drown out the hum of the treadmill, the songs screeching through the weight room, vile, aggressive, deranged. Same as his frame of mind.

When the sound got cut off, he didn't bother looking around. He figured the stereo had kicked it or someone wanted to talk to him, and he wasn't interested in dealing with either.

The girl stepped in front of the machine, her pretty dark eyes narrowed in a way resembling his own.

"He watched our mother die," she suddenly said, softly as if her anger was replaced by something deeper and almost too quiet for him to hear. The meaning of her words slowly sank in his understanding, but he stayed silent, sensing that she wasn't done yet.

"It was awful. Seeing her lose her faculties and be in such pain. By the end she didn't look like herself, she didn't act like herself. She was gone except for her body that refused to quit its basic functions. And he was always at her side, until the very end, experiencing what it feels like to lose someone dear first hand."

Levi wanted to ask what caused her to die, but him knowing didn't really made much of a difference. Death was death, no matter the circumstances. A fact he often came by due to his job. And his nature.

The girl turned to leave, when the words slipped his lips. "What about you? She was your mother as well, wasn't she?"

Dark eyes looked back at him over her shoulder. "Of course, she was. I lost part of my family the second time she went into darkness that day. And that is the reason I never will allow you to hurt my brother, no matter who you are or what is going on between the two of you. You hurt him, I kill you."

Her eyes left his and Levi watched her walking out of the basement. He'd never admit it out loud, but he really started to like the girl. He felt related to her.

A moment later, he decided to follow her and go back to his room again. He assumed that Maria's cooking would be waiting for him in front of his door, and his stomach made itself noticeable because of his hardcore calorie burning.

He was right. Balancing the tray on one hand, he opened his door with the other and retreated to his usual spot by the window before quickly going to work with his fork.

After neatly cleaning the tableware, he sat down on the windowsill to watch the skies getting darker. Behind the walls and down the cliffs the mansion's back was facing, he saw the clouds gathering above the silent sea. It was almost March, but the wintery weather had yet to be gone, so it still was freezing cold outside.

Levi thought about what the girl had revealed to him. So she knew, she was adopted. And furthermore, she let him in on why the boy was acting so unlike himself. Then again, maybe the happy naive behaviour was just a facade to hide his true feelings. From others, and maybe even from himself. Pretending was a technique many used to deal with their problems.

He remembered his own family. Well, his mother, to be more accurate, since she was all of a family he ever had. He never knew his father or any other family members. And his mother had left him when he was still a child.

To be without family was a strange, unseeable prison, he thought, the bars of loneliness and rootlessness enclosing even more tightly as years and experience accumulated, isolating a male such that he touched naught and naught touched him.

After he was abandoned, life had beaten the shit out of him, but instead of folding, each strike and blow had forged him harder and stronger and tougher. Now he was straight steel, nothing lingering of the boy he'd once been. But that was growing up for you. Not only your body changed; your head did, too.

The reality of his own demise made him think of the many faces he'd stared down into as lives lad leached out of bodies and souls went soaring free. As an assassin, death had been his job. As a halfblood, it had been a kind of calling.

The process had always fascinated him. Every one of the people he'd killed had fought the tide, even though they knew, as he'd stood over them with whatever weapon he'd palmed up still in his hand, that if they managed to pull themselves out of the spiral he was just going to strike again. Hadn't seemed to matter, though. The horror and the pain had acted as an energy source, food for their fight, and he knew what it felt like. How you struggle to breath even though you couldn't get air down your throat. How the cold sweat formed on top of your overheated skin, and how your muscles became weak, but you still called in them to move, move, move, damn it.

Personally, he didn't buy the whole holy-deity bullshit, the outcome was the same. Death was lights-out, end of story. For fuck's sake, he'd seen it up close so many times - after the great struggle came… nothing. His victims had just stopped moving, frozen in whatever position they'd been in when their hearts had halted. And maybe some people died with a smile on their face, but in his experience, that was a grimace, not a grin.

You'd think if they were getting a boatload of bright white light and kingdom-of-heaven crap they'd be beaming like they had won the lottery.

Except maybe the reason they looked so bitched was less about where they were going and more about where they'd been.

The regrets… you did think about your regrets.

Aside from the fact that he wished he'd been born under different circumstances, there was only one thing among the many that weighed more than all the others.

That he never got a chance to ask his mother why she left him. Maybe she knew what he was and had despised him for it. Maybe she was the same as him. But he remembered her treating him with care and affection. Cutting his hair, singing him to sleep. Cooking for him. And if not some kind of freaking self-defense mechanism altered his memories about their time together, her leaving all of a sudden made even less sense.

He had searched for her, but even with Erwin's help, he hadn't find her. So, chances for her being dead were high.

If only she could see him now. Her little boy had turned into a righteous, cold killer.

It's probably better that she is dead, he thought. She surely wouldn't have approved of what he'd become. Then again, if she'd been allowed to live into old age, maybe he would've been different.

Having led a violent life, it was guaranteed that he was going to meet a violent end. And with no family mourning his death, there would be no one who have to feel the same pain like he did. It also made him less vulnerable. But true to form, he was sure as fuck going to take out a pound or two of flesh with him on his to the exit.

In his peripheral vision Levi saw someone walking through the gardens.

* * *

Eren wandered through the cold night within the wall's grounds. Stepped over the frost-laden grass, he headed for the outside pool.

Tonight, his concept of consequent denial didn't work for him. His thoughts kept spinning inside his head, and he decided to go outside, hoping that the cool air would clear his mind. Maybe he was lucky enough to go numb. He had talked to Armin about the conversation with Levi that started his whole inner muddle, and his friend had tried to encourage him to assume that Levi wasn't doing what he did for the money. His choice of words when he told Eren that his reasons for killing the man was that he was going against Ms. Smith, and because the man had killed a valuable companion, made Armin assume that it hadn't been about business itself, but more about avenging someone dear to them. And Eren couldn't deny when Armin asked him if he would act any different if someone would mistreat Mikasa, for example.

He arrived his designated location on the backside of the mansion and stopped at its rim. Earlier that day, Eren saw that it had been freed from its cover to get cleaned.

The swimming pool was no more than a big hot tub, and its water, thickened and slowed by the cold, looked like black oil in the moonlight. Eren sat down, took off his boots and socks, and dangled his feet in the icy depths. He kept them submerged even when they numbed.

Not only he failed not thinking about Levi today, but about his mother as well. It was all present as if it had only been a few days ago. After the doctors started to treat her with chemo, she'd quickly sunk into the fragile underclass of the sick, the dying, becoming nothing more than a pitiful, scary reminder of other people's mortality, a poster child for the terminal nature of life.

He remembered his mother lying in her bed. Everything about that bedroom was still so clear: the way the light had come through the lace curtains and landed on things in a snowflake pattern. The pale blue walls and the white wall-to-wall rug. That comforter his mother had loved so much, the one with the little pink roses on a cream background. The smell of nutmeg and ginger from a dish of potpourri. The crucifix above the curving headboard and the big Madonna icon on the floor in the corner.

He saw his mom rolling a rosary through her fingers, murmuring words of devotion while lying in bed. The combination of the rubbing and the whispering had helped her find an ease beyond that which the morphine was able to give her. Because somehow, even in the midst of her curse, even at the apex of the pain and fear, his mother had believed in miracles.

Eren had wanted to ask his mom if she actually thought she'd be saved, and not in the metaphorical sense, but in a practical way. Had Carla truly believed that if she said the right words and had the right objects around her that she would be cured, that she would walk again, live again?

The questions were never posed. That kind of inquiry would have been cruel, and Eren had known the answer anyway, no matter his age.

The memories burned, and Eren forced himself to see the room as it had been after everything was over, the illness, the dying, the cleaning up. He saw it right before his eyes. Neat. Tidy. His mother's Catholic crutches packed away by the maids, the faint shadow left by the cross on the wall covered by a framed Andrew Wyeth print.

The tears wouldn't stay put. They came slowly, relentlessly, falling into the water. He watched them hit the surface and disappear.

When he looked up again, he saw the moon rising just above the tree line on the west side of the wall. It was full, a flat, luminescent disk in the cold, cloudy night. He extended his arm toward it and squeezed one eye shut. Angling his line of sight, he positioned the lunar glow in the cradle of his palm and held the apparition with care.

He wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

As Levi walked up behind the boy, his steps deliberately loud enough to be heard so that he wouldn't startle, he saw him reaching for something in the air. Levi concentrated his eyes to see if he'd missed something, but there was nothing to grab for.

"What are you doing there?" he asked.

The boy's arms fell back to into his lap. He didn't turn around. "My mother used to do this with me a long time ago. I am trying to hold the moon in my hands."

Levi sat down next to him crossed-legged, and absently recognized that the boy was wearing only a light long-sleeve and a pair of thin trousers. And the temperature out here was nearly hitting freezing point. He was about to drag the brat back inside to avoid him catching a cold, eventually spreading his viruses all over the place, when he continued speaking.

"She died when I was ten." He stopped as if he hadn't intended to talk, before seemingly giving up. "That is why I don't want to be with you. After you told me that you kill people for money, I realized that you don't value life. I can't stand such people. My mother was taken from me and it had been the worst thing ever happening to me. When I saw how that disease sucked out the life from her still breathing body, I knew how worthy it is. How easily it is taken away. And then there are people like you who do the same on purpose."

Eren finally look at him again, not hiding his face, but still hiding his emotions behind a blank facade.

Not trusting that face, Levi inhaled surreptitiously.

Sure enough, he was tinged with the scent of grief that smelled like the grey skies above them and like dying trees. It made him ache a little to draw it in. Eren was hiding, as if erasing it from his face would erase it from his mind as well.

Levi knew the value of hiding.

Eren did not want to be seen, and he was not going to force him to unmask herself.

"I don't care for things like money. I have my own reasons to why I am doing this job. And probably none of them would change the way you think of me right now, so I won't tell. Also, I don't to it because I am being told to, it is because I want to do it," Levi said, seeing horror creeping in those huge green orbs, "but know that the people I kill aren't worth mourning over. I choose for myself who I kill. And the world is better off without them, whether you'll believe me or not. Those were the killers and monsters you despise, the ones that get off on causing pain for others or those who aim for power and money. Ruthless drug dealers, kidnappers, child abusers. And I know that most of them have family and others who cared for them. I inflicted the same pain, you are feeling over your mother's death. So, in the end, I sure am no better than them. But, I don't do it for some base motives."

Just as Eren probably hadn't meant to let him in on his past's dark side, Levi hadn't intended to explain himself to the boy, but he also didn't want him thinking badly of him. What was laughable since he thought nothing good about his own person either. Maybe he was a tad better then the people he went after, but he still was part of society's suds. He was too weak to come over this bodily needs, too weak to not take what wasn't his. Talk about base motives. But after Erwin took him in and put him in his profession, Levi found it convenient, almost appropriate to only drink from those who are also as black-souled as he was, before ultimately killing them anyway. Those whose blood was stained as their personalities. That was were he fit in.

Levi realized that he had been staring into the boy's eyes for some time without neither of them saying another word. The moon had hid behind a massive wall of heavy grey clouds, and the gardens, previously lit by its silvery light, were now dark and shadowy. If they stayed out any longer, the boy sure would caught a flu, so Levi stood up and offered his hand.

"Let's get inside," he said, his grey eyes tearing at emerald ones. He saw that there was still a lot going on inside the other's mind, whatever exactly it might have been.

"Look, everyone is broken, kid," he suddenly heard himself saying, his voice a different place than their bodies. Where this was coming from, he didn't know himself, but he continued: "They just like to pretend that they're not. It's a mask that no one is willing to take off."


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

Levi never let go of Eren's hand when he dragged him behind and into the living room on ground floor which was placed next to the dining room. Levi hadn't spent a single second in this room yet, for he had no reason to do, but when he hit the light switch to the left, illuminating the room, he had to admit that it was quite an eyeful.

Silk drapery hung from the windows in swaths of red and gold. Satin and velvet adorned a huge antique Jacobean sitting area as the room's centerpiece, and the framing of which must have been made out of whole oak trunks. There was an Aubusson rug on the ﬂoor, oil paintings on the walls. He was pretty sure that Madonna and Child on the one side was a Rubens.

But it wasn't all Sotheby's stuff. There was a plasma screen TV with an Xbox on the floor, and enough stereo equipment to carry off a Super Bowl half-time show. The room was flanked by two ceiling-high shelves packed up to the top with DVDs, Blue-rays and CDs.

Levi made the brunette sit down on the three-seater, and put a blanket he found on an armchair in one of the room's corners around his shoulders. Before the other man could've said something to him, he turned, heading for the kitchen, and wandered along one of the bookshelves, where leatherbound volumes in foreign languages stood straight and proud. He quickly scanned the titles and ran into the DVD collection.

 _Oh, the humanity._

The Austin Powers boxed set. Aliens and Alien. Jaws. All three Naked Guns. Godzilla. Godzilla. Godzilla. . . wait, the rest of this whole shelf was Godzilla. He went one lower.

Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street. Well, at least they hadn't bothered with the sequels to those. Caddyshack, The Evil Dead boxed set.

It was a wonder Eren hadn't blinded himself with all the pop culture.

Levi went out the door and into the kitchen two rooms further to prepare a can of ginger tea for the boy to heat up again. His skin had been icely cold when he had taken his hand, and the last thing Levi needed was a sick brat with snot hanging from his nose. The image alone made a shiver run up his spine. _Fucking disgusting..._

When he was done, he took the glass can as well as a mug and went back into the living room. The boy had turned on the TV and was snuggled against one of the couch's armrests. The scent of grief was slowly fading, and Levi felt relieve coil in the pit of his stomach. Maybe, things can finally get back to normal now. Whatever normal meant for them. He placed the can and mug on the coffee table.

"You have to wait until the ginger infuses the water," Levi said, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

"Uhm- thanks."

The older man closed his eyes, but he still felt Eren's gaze lingering on him. And God, it felt so much better than when he tried to avoid looking at him. He liked that green eyes on him, so he took a moment to bathe in that feeling before he noticed Eren moving closer on the couch.

"What are you doing?" The motion stopped, and he heard the boy struggling for words.

"You said that there were other reasons to why you're working as a hitman. What are those?"

Levi rolled his eyes behind closed lids. "As I already told you, I won't tell."

He was getting closer again. "You said you wouldn't because you think none of them would change the way I think about you. Well, maybe the one reason you told be about did help a bit to change my mind."

"Is that so?"

"I guess."

"Then the purpose is already fulfilled and there is no point in telling you about the others as well."

"Levi-," he brunette whined.

 _This is so much better,_ Levi thought and stayed silent.

After a while of quiet, Eren spoke again: "So, you're only killing people you consider bad? Like some kind of avenger?"

Levi opened his eyes to find the other having slid onto his side of the couch. He looked at the wall of movies behind the brat, he hadn't took a glimpse at yet, and as if on point saw a row of Marvel and DC titles. "You're watching too much garbage, kid."

"No, seriously. Does it mean that you're one of the good ones? Supporting police forces and stuff like that or how does it work?"

Levi suppressed a smile that was threatening to crawl onto his lips. "I had a guess, but now I am fully convinced that you've never graduated kindergarten." Hell, how could he make a face like he did at the pool and still have no clue how the world works?

"But it's true, isn't it? Why would you tell me about all this a second ago and still not admitting that you're one of the good guys?"

"Listen, Eren. I am not the good guy. You of all people should know since it's the reason you're interested in me. And I don't have a problem with that. But I am nothing of what you're making out of me right now. I am just the guy who normally works as a hitman and who's current job is to protect a girl and his bratty brother from some random cocksucker."

When he looked back at Eren, he saw him smiling shyly as if he'd complimented him.

"What are you blushing about?"

"It's the first time you called me by my name."

"Don't get used to it, brat." But that stupid smile remained.

* * *

He'd selected some random show on netflix when Levi went into the kitchen to prepare the tea because he couldn't stand the silence anymore. There had been too much of it the last few days.

And he felt better now. Somehow, knowing that Levi didn't kill innocent people made the whole situation a lot easier for him. And it didn't feel like Levi was only telling him that to make him feel better. What reason should he have to do so, anyway?

Eren had always thought about joining the police force or something like that to save people's life after his mother had died. Becoming a medical might have been the more obvious conclusion, but Eren figured that he wasn't smart enough for such a career. Those were reserved for people like Armin, those with brains. And policemen also rescue people and keep them save by putting the bad guys out of business. Just like Levi claimed, he did. Was there really that much of a difference?

Also, what had he meant when he said that thing about why Eren might be interested in him?

The man on the other side of the couch got up and grabbed for the can, pouring the steaming liquid into his Star Wars mug.

Though, the last days had been hard for Eren and he knew that it'll take some more of them before he finally shove them back into the dark corner of his mind. But maybe with him and Levi talking to each other again, there were some ways he could distract himself. Those images from what happened after his combat training in the basement came back to him.

Eren heard Levi giving an exasperated sigh when he turned around towards him, and then, while one hand balanced the hot mug on the armrest next to him, his other one was on his jaw, insistently keeping his face turned towards him. It wasn't violent or painful, but Eren might as well have been struggling against steel. The other man patiently maneuvered him so that their eyes were level, their faces inches apart.

"Who gave you such eyes, brat?"

 _What an odd question._ "I think I got them from my mother."

"You better appreciate them. They're one of a kind."

God, everything about that man rediated sex, from the strength in his body to the way he moved and the smell of his skin. Levi hovered above him, a silent menace despite his lack in height.

On impulse, Eren hands went to the lapels of the raven's shirt, and he tried to pull him down to his mouth. Why fucking wait with the distracting?

But Levi easily captured both his wrists in the hand that had been on his jaw. "Easy."

 _Easy_? Eren didn't want easy. Easy was not part of his plan here. He struggled against the hold, but couldn't get free.

"Close your eyes."

Eren's heart skipped a beat. Now that he had lost his motion, he got nervous. _Fuck him for always getting ahead of me!_ Eren didn't know a thing about kissing. Hadn't never done it. So when he did as he was told, he quickly called on every movie he had ever seen… and got no help at all. As a horror fan, he was just swamped by visions of Godzilla stomping across Tokyo and of Jaws chewing in the ass end of the Orca. Big help.

He thought of the mechanics. Head tilt. Lean forward. Make the contact.

Tantalizing slow, Eren felt the other man coming closer. A few breaths ghosted over his lips before a set of velvet lines landed on them. The contact was as soft as one could only imagine. Eren pushed against the other's mouth, trying to intensify the feeling, but Levi hold him in place. Their lips moved together, sliding against each other when Eren felt something hot and wet licking over his bottom lip. As he gasped, the raven's tongue penetrated his mouth instantly and stroked his own. He was taken aback a bit, but somehow his body knew what it had to do. He almost effortless joined the rhythmically push and pull of Levi's wet muscle, getting tingly all over. The kiss was slow, tongues dancing together in gentle circles, and when Levi pulled back much to Eren's disappointment, there was the tiniest string of saliva connecting their mouths. With a pink blush on his cheeks and panting slightly, Eren stared at each other man, his heart fluttering, their breaths mingling. Those grey eyes unreadable.

Levi straightened and let go of Eren's hands, placing the mug in his palms.

"Drink."

* * *

Shit, he was really getting into this. There was a humming crawling up his spine when his tongue entered the hot cavern behind the boy's lips and bit by bit it spread through his entire body, getting louder by the second. Which was why he had to pull back before he lost control of the situation and make some of his fantasies come true. He didn't need a rerun of the time they'd been down in the basement. And it wasn't like Eren would hit the brake either. He smelled his frustration and arousal, a potent and dangerous mix even for people who are sexually experienced. And as much as he could put some relieve to good use himself, he wasn't interested in taking advantage of the boy's emotional distress.

He sat back against the cushions and watched the film the boy had put on earlier. Something about a woman with a blindfold and her two children. God, he had to give the brat some serious lecture about good cinema.

Although the kid apparently had turned his focus back on the screen, Levi knew he wasn't following the plot either. His scent spoke for itself and kept informing Levi about the kind of thoughts he was having. He wished he could see them as well, not only guessing the exact scenarios. What might they be?

Most likely not the same kind as Levi had. He thought of the soft skin of the brunette's neck. Imagined the sensation of his tongue stroking over the vein that ran up from his heart. His fangs elongated as if he was before him on his knees, naked as the day he was born. As if he could sink in his teeth into him anywhere he'd want and drink. Levi closed his eyes as his body began to shake. His stomach, full with food, turned into a bottomless, achy pit. He tried to remember the last time he'd fed. It had only been yesterday, so it really hadn't been that long ago.

He forced himself to calm down. Get control. It was like trying to slow down a train with a hand brake, but eventually a cooling stream of sanity replaced the whacked-out, blood-lust spins.

As he came back to reality, he felt uneasy, his instincts crying out for airtime. That boy on the other side of the couch might get dangerous if he wasn't careful. When he could affect him like this without even touching him, he might just be his detonator. An express-lane pass to self-destruction. Levi dragged a hand through his hair. How goddamned ironic that he wanted him like hell.

But maybe it wasn't that ironic. The urge to cozy up to what could annihilate you ensured the damn thing to get a chance to go work on your ass.

After all, what kind of fun would it be if you could avoid your inner hand grenade easily? Damn it all.

"We should call it a night and go to bed," Levi said, standing up again.

* * *

He'd been so certain that Levi meant something else… but unfortunately, Eren was lying on his sheets, all by himself. When he wanted to follow Levi into his bedroom, he had looked at him as if he'd lost his mind and ordered him to 'lie down in his own fucking bed'.

But he wasn't going to give up. Not now.


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

After Eren had finished his homework for today, he and Armin were in the living room on the first floor. His father had announced earlier that day that classes were gonna start again and that Eren's grace period had ended. Naturally, his father didn't had a clue that the real grueling Eren went through had been after his near-death experience. When he thought about it, this actually was a good time for classes. At least it would gave him something to keep his mind busy with. Okay, maybe there were other ways to do so that he would prefer over studying. Like with what Levi had done to him in the living room.

He'd been so certain Levi meant something else when he said they should go to bed. But unfortunately, Eren's high hopes had been in vain. When he wanted to follow Levi into his bedroom, he had looked at him as if he'd become mental and ordered him to 'lie down in his own fucking bed'. So he'd been lying on his sheets last night, all by himself again.

Now standing in the mansion's second living room, Eren looked across the pool table while Armin measured his shot. Something was off with his friend today, but as the blonde sank three balls with one cue stroke, it sure as hell wasn't his game.

"Jesus, Armin. Four wins in a row. Remind me why I bother playing with you?"

"Because hope springs eternal." Armin tossed back the tail end of his soda. "You want another game?"

"Why not. My odds can't get worse."

"You rack while I get a refill."

As Eren collected the balls from the pockets, he realized what the problem was. Every time he turned away, Armin was staring at him.

"You have something on your mind, my friend?"

Armin poured himself another glas, then took a long drink from it. "Not particularly."

"Liar," Eren smirked. "You've been giving me the hairy eyeball since this morning. Why don't you get real and spill it."  
Armin ocean eyes met his mild glare head-on. "You better, Eren?"

Eren dropped the eight ball and dimly heard it bouncing on the marble floor. "What? Why would you-?"

"You've been thinking about your mother lately, haven't you? I noticed your behaviour. As did Mikasa. But you seem better, at least you do today." As Eren cursed, Armin picked up the black ball and sent it rolling back over the green felt.

"She might have passed my mind once or twice, yes. Does it matter?"

"You know, it does. I understand that you won't talk to me or Mikasa about it. We're too close. But I still think you should see somebody about it."

"It's not like I haven't tried. It just didn't work out for me. Everyone has their own way of dealing with those things. Let's talk about something else, please. How's your grandpa? You haven't told much about him since you came back."

"You didn't seem like talking… But well, he's fine. He recently discovered a huge gap in Russia's military forces and I helped him fix it. He got on a plane there shortly after I came by, but he promised to keep me posted how it is working out."

Eren heard footsteps coming closer from the main hall and then he saw Levi passing the door.

Unsure of what to do, but feeling the need to say something, he shyly raised his hand. "H-hey Levi."

The man stopped and stepped between the doorframe's beams. Shit, he hadn't expected an actual reaction. What now?

As Eren was a bit lost at what he should do next, he could practically feel his friend's mischief breaking free behind him. And before he could stop him, he heard Armin addressing the raven: "Hey man. Wanna join us?"

No, not good. Eren wasn't sure how to handle Levi in the presence of other people. Even if it was a long time, no-one-knows-him-better kind like Armin. Because seriously, he never knew how Levi would react to him. He had already flattened him against the library's book shelves, jumped him and kissed him without warning, and yes, this was the correct order things had went down between them. Unimaginable, if something alike would happen while Armin was witnessing. Because in all honesty and regardless of that he loved him like a brother, Armin could be a fucking tease, if he gets comfortable around you. He would never let Eren live it down if anything embarrassing happens in front of his very eyes.

And now inviting Levi to play with them, the blonde was probably hoping for exact that to take place.

Levi walked in the room and up to the pool table. "Are you any good?"

Trying to get the upper hand of the situation, Eren answered: "Are you serious? Not a single person on this property was able to beat him since he turned ten. But most of us are still letting him beat us, though, to help him overcome his issues about his lacking height-"

Eren stopped in his tracks, wide-eyed, when Levi's look shifted from fairly neutral to pissed.

 _Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that._

But his eyes softened just as quickly. "Never mind, kid. True greatness has nothing to do with your physical size. I heard you two talking about your grandpa and his involvement in Russia's military?"

"Yeah, you're versed?" Armin stepped in.

"Not particularly. But I've been in Russia for a couple of years and got a glimpse at their forces' plans concerning the USA."  
As fast as he wanted to get a lead in their conversation, Eren lost his active part in it again, for he was too amazed that Levi even was proficient in a topic like such. Knowing what he did for a living, it wasn't hard for him to put the pieces of the reason for his stay in Russia together, as he listened to him talking. Maybe it didn't stop with just contract killing. Maybe it went even deeper, like infiltration and alike.

"And what do you think about those plans?" Armin asked nonchalantly as if they weren't discussing stuff that could possibly provoke a third world war, as far as Eren understood.

"The same as I think about all kind of openly dealt wars. The higher ups mask their goals behind big words like peace and justice, while the rest of the popularity just goes with it, completely blind to the fact that fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity. It's inefficient, way too messy and you'll never get what you're after that way."

The both of them continued their exchange as Levi grabbed a cue, and joined their game. It didn't take Eren long though, to be the first one to lose. So while the blonde and the raven kept playing, Eren sauntered over to the couch and watched them duelling for the first place. Which took quite an amount of time. Although Armin's shots were nothing but perfectly calculated, it was obvious that Levi beat him in experience. Therefore they were pretty well matched.

Silently sipping at his cola, Eren marvelled if there was something this man wasn't good at.

* * *

Later that night, actually quite later, Eren flopped over in bed and pushed the covers and blankets off with his feet. Half asleep, he splayed his legs out to try to cool down.

Had he left the thermostat on too high?

Standing up and walking to the oriel, he cracked open the window behind the closed curtains. Cold air took the invitation to heart and rushed in, cooing him, calming.

His body felt hot. Had he actually catched a fever from being out the night, Levi picked him up? He lifted the back of his hand to his forehead. No, he wasn't that kind of warm.

More like when he had a bad dream and his body reacted with too much adrenaline.

He listened to the serenity of the night. Other than the wind's gentle whistling, it was silent around and inside of the mansion. No rustling of the maids' feet, running down the halls and starting their days. No gardeners transporting their wheelbarrows or tools from the shed to where they were needed. Therefore, it had still to be pretty early. Eren looked to the grandfather's clock to his right. 3:30 in the morning. Made sense.

Feeling too awake to fall asleep again any time soon, he decided to screw up his courage.

He drew on the black robe from a chair and bolted out of the bedroom. With quick eyes, he checked up and down the hallway. No witnesses. Good. Closing the door quietly, he glided over the Persian runner, making no sound at all, and stopped at the next door down the hallway. He took a deep breath. And knocked softly.

Through the door came, "Fuck off. I've crashed."

Eren turned the knob and pushed. Light from the hall barged in, slicing a pie wedge out of the darkness. As the glow hit Levi, he straightened in the armchair he was sitting in, his face nothing but a billboard for a rankly pissed-off man.

"What are you doing, brat?"

Good question, Eren thought as his courage dimmed.

"Can… can I stay here with you?"

Levi looked like had a hard time processing what Eren just said. Then he frowned. "No, you can't."

"Please-"

"No," he snapped. "Now get out of here."

"I- I can't sleep. And as it seems, you can't either. I thought we could...," Eren trailed off.

As Levi stood up from his sitting position, Eren noticed that the belt around his hips was open. As well as the fly of his jeans. He watched the raven walking into his bathroom, holding something in his hand Eren couldn't make out, and then disappeared from his sight. Only one moment later, he came back and ran his hand through his dark hair while looking at him. His chest expanded.

"Don't make me go," Eren whispered, still standing in the doorway.

When Levi cursed his favoured F-word, Eren exhaled in relief, figuring that was as close to a yes as he was going to get.

He stepped inside and closed the door, lowering his eyes for a moment before he turned around.

"So? What keeps you awake this late at night?"

"I am not much of a sleeper."

"Funny. I am known to be able to sleep wherever I nod off." As Eren made his way across the room, the raven stayed unmoved, not flinching an inch away as Eren entered his personal space. As their eyes met head on, this particularly blueish colour bled its way into the older man's grey irides; the one Eren had noticed before, in the quiet moments they had shared together when it had been just the two of them. The one Eren thought he had just imagined. But there it was, undeniable, melting his bones and enlightening a fire in his guts.

"Yet, you're here now."

In a burning rush, Eren imagined himself looking down at the man before him while their bodies were merged, the other's face inches from his own. The fantasy had him lifting his arm. He wanted to run his fingertip down that face until it got to his mouth. Just to know the feel of him. Levi's stare was unwavering, his eyes even intensifying in their colour, but still as unreadable as Eren was about to ...

A loud growl emerged from Levi's stomach, freezing them on spot.

And Eren bursted out in laughter, holding his cramping belly muscles.

"Hahaha, shit~! That was close to blasting my poor eardrums, man! Didn't you eat-"

Before he opened his watering eyes again, he felt a dull but forceful pain spreading from his shoulder, and he flew across the room, into the dresser.

A bit disorientated, but still giggling, Eren looked up to the man standing in front of him, who didn't seemed to have moved at all. But that sure as hell had been a kick that had sent him down to the floor.

"If you're hungry, just say so. I could grab a bite as well." Eren leaned on his arms and pushed himself up, and although he just learned the sacrifices for making fun of the shorter man, he still couldn't stop giggling. "How about me going down and quickly preparing something for us?"

"No."

"Aww, come on! Your body doesn't lie about stuff like that. Where's the hurt?

"I said no," he heard Levi saying as he already turned to the door, making his way out.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be right back," Eren replied, lifting his hand and waving it as a sign of 'I'm outta here.'

* * *

Eren stood over the stove thinking of the way Levi had looked at him. Before his evidently prominent hunger had pulled the brakes on whatever they had been about to do.

Now down in the kitchen on ground floor, he flipped the omelette over and headed for the refrigerator, feeling blessed that everybody else was still sound asleep. Taking out a plastic container of cut fruits, he spooned all there was into a bowl. It didn't look like enough, so he grabbed a banana and sliced it on top.

When the omelette was finished and the toast buttered, Eren rolled a fork up in a napkin, tucked the twist under his elbow, and took the plate and the bowl back up to Levi's room. Quickly, he shut the door behind him and turned to the bed.

Seeing Levi sitting in his chair, he said: "I decided on omelette and a bit of fresh fruit. I hope you're okay with it."

 _Yeah, if there wasn't the risk of waking the damn house, I would've prepared something a la Four Seasons for you_ , he thought by himself.

He placed the dished at the foot of the bed's mattress. "Wanna come here and eat?"

Levi's mood still seemed sour. "I told you, I won't eat anything. What retard eats at such an hour?"

"The one that's hungry and unable to sleep? Seriously, your stomach spoke for itself, so suck it down and eat already. It'd be very rude if you don't take a bite since I made the effort to prepare it for you."

"Rude is my second nature," the raven said with a stern face.

Which had Eren smirk smugly. "I know, I know. You're one badass second to none in this world. Now grab a piece of the omelett before it gets cold."

Narrowing his eyes and aware of the fact that Eren was still making fun of him, and only God knows where he took the bravery from, Levi rose once more from his chair. But instead of sitting down on the bed next to Eren, he took the plate with the omelette as well as the fork and the napkin and returned to where he came from. Putting everything down on the table, Levi sat down and started neatly cutting bit by bit of the omelette before bringing the bites to his mouth.

Feeling awkward to watch him eating, mostly because he was too focused on the way Levi's lips moved and his jawline tensed up with every chew, Eren laid back against the bed's headboard and the cushions and picked a piece of fruit from the plastic container. When only the best ones of the straw- and blueberries and the other fruits were left, which he wanted to spare in case Levi wanted some as well, he lifted his head and saw that the other man also finished his meal.

He nodded to the flat-screen TV on the wall. "Wanna watch a movie? Like actually watch one this time?"

Levi twisted around in his chair. "Sure, why not. It's been a while since I did that. What have you got?"

"We got cable, so we have everything." In an off-hand kind of way, Eren nodded to the pillow next to him. "Why don't you sit here? You won't really be able to see anything from there."

He hoped he hadn't been too obvious about his intentions. But he wanted Levi to be next to him. He wanted him to be… close.

Even as the other man's brain evidently cramped up over the situation, he stood up and went to the bed, settling next to Eren and crossing his arms over his chest and his legs at the ankles. God, when he felt the mattress move, Eren felt his boldness deflare. Instead of feeling encouraged, he got nervous the way you were when you were on a date. At least that was what he imagined it to be like. Butterflies. Sweaty palms.

Hello, adrenal glands.

"So, what kind of stuff do you like to watch?" Eren asked as he palmed a remote that had enough buttons on it to launch a space shuttle.

"How about Lawrence of Arabia?

Eren puckered his lips. "I think I've heard about it, but I've never seen it. Let's give it a try."

Flashing a grin to Levi, he pushed some buttons on the remote, and search through the video library until he found the title.

He pressed play and slid down the mattress into more of a lying position.

Watching the movie's intro, he sighed mentally. _This thing looks old as a grave… talk about bad taste_ , he thought as he remembered Levi's comment down in the living room the other night.

Growing bored within the first ten minutes, he snuck a peek at the man next to him. Levi seemed oddly focused on the screen. Eren found it really hard to believe that he honestly liked such movies, but he decided to take advantage of his preoccupation. Turning onto this right side, he laid his head on top of his crooked upper arm, using it as a pillow. Pretending to still pay attention to the crappy film, he kept his head facing the screen, while from the corner of his eyes he fixed the other's arm. By pure accident of course, he placed his own other arm so close to it, they almost touched. And when Eren moved a bit and they actually did, he saw Levi tensing slightly, but he didn't flinch his arm away. On the contrary, that heady scent of spices and soap emitted from the raven's body, flaring up and making Eren feel like he was bathing in it. Which felt devine. So Eren continued. Starting with his arm, he run his fingertips in tiny circles on the smooth skin beneath them, before letting them wander up and down Levi's forearm. Looking up again, he saw Levi's eyes tracking the movement with a suspicion Eren took no offense at, his muscles twitching, flickering as he passed. He stroked him slowly, letting him get used to his touch, and when he felt safe enough, Eren pushed himself on his elbow, leaned down, and put his lips on Levi's clothed biceps. His shoulder. His collarbone. The top of his pectoral.

* * *

He eyed the bed. In a smooth movement he hopped on top of the sheets. Which was an achingly bad idea. The moment they decided on what they'd be watching, Eren molded himself to his hard edges until he was another blanket. A soft, warm, breathing…

Levi felt panik rising the surface. There was too much of the brat against him that he didn't know what to do. He wanted to shove him away. He wanted him even closer. He wanted… oh man, he wanted to mount him. Take him. Fuck him.

The instinct was so strong he saw himself doing the deed; rolling him onto his stomach, pulling his hips off the bed, rearing up behind him. He imagined pushing _it_ inside of him and pumping with his hips.

God, it was loathsome. To want to take that dirty thing out and force it into him? He might as well shove a toilet brush in his mouth.

"You tremble…," the kid said. "Are your cold?"

 _Shit, don't let my voice fail me now._ "It's nothing. Watch the movie," Levi said, mentally congratulating himself for not having to clear his throat beforehand and ruining his facadé with it. He sounded pretty slick, if he did say so himself.

After some time in which Levi refrained from responding to Eren's affections, the boy eventually settled his head on Levi's shoulder and returned to just watching the movie.

A good hour later, and still only halfway through the movie, he heard Eren say, yawning: "This is the worst load of shit I've ever seen."

Though not verbalizing his thoughts, Levi agreed with him. It was boring as fuck. Which was the reason why he'd picked it. He had hoped the brat would fall asleep, giving him time to adjust to this new development. He would've never expected the him gather the guts to do something like paying him a visit in the middle of the night. The brat's whole behaviour once again was something totally new to Levi. As he tried to bring all the pieces he knew about the boy together, he watched him stretching his back and putting his head in the nape of his neck.

And shit, he had a nice throat.

Levi's fangs unsheathed and he imagined pulling a classic Dracula, rearing up over his prone body. He forced himself to look back at Peter O'Toole.

Some time later, he finally sensed the boy drifting into sleep.

As Eren unconsciously stretched out on his bed, Levi was ashamed to admit it, but he'd spent a lot of days wondering what this would be like. Feel like. Smell like.

As the boy's chest brushed against Levi's, he tried to tell himself he didn't need this. Tried to pretend that he didn't need the feel of someone beside him, that he wasn't eased as he lay head-to-toe with another person. That he didn't care about the warmth and the weight against his body.

That it didn't heal him.

As Levi turned towards the boy and wrapped his arms around him, he needed it all. With the shooting and him almost losing control and being ignored for days, he craved the closeness of another, needed to feel arms that returned his embrace.

He had to have the beat of a heart against his own.

He had spent so much time keeping his hands away from others, keeping himself apart from others. To let down his guard now with the one person he somehow longed for, for reasons he didn't comprehend, made his eyes sting.

As Eren shuddered in his sleep, Levi felt the trembling in the male's shoulders and hips. Knowing it was illicit, but unable to stop himself, he took his hand and buried it deep into Eren's nape. While the boy let out a groan and moved closer, Levi shifted his eyes over to the door.

The only reason he didn't feel awkward as hell was because he knew that Eren would have no memories of this private moment. Otherwise he couldn't have handled it. Shit like this didn't happen often in his life - mostly because he didn't let it.

Eren shifted, and his legs brushed against Levi's through the blankets. With a stab of guilt, he recalled the times he'd imagined himself with Eren, imagined the two of them lying as they were now, imagined them . . . well, sleeping wasn't part of it. Strange, though. Now that it was happening, Levi wasn't thinking anything sexual towards Eren. He looked back at the boy in his arms. No, right now all he wanted was to keep him safe. Which surprised him even more.

As time stretched out languidly, uncurling like a lazy dog on a hazy summer night, his eyes never left Eren's face.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

"Levi~, can we please give it a second chance? You said I wasn't that bad last time."

He gave him those stupid puppy eyes, just like he did last night when Levi agreed to him staying in his room in the first place. Those eyes of a hungry pup who wanted an extra piece of meat for dinner and who thought that looking miserable and wounded would trigger the necessary sympathy.

Unfortunately, it was working. Again.

Levi cursed silently as the boy's face fell into an expression of almost authentic heartbreak. "Please~," he begged, and clung his form a little closer to him as if he could express his longing through pressure.

He was cursed. No, all men on this fucking planet were cursed. There was no other explanation. What was it about sweetly pleading creatures with huge cutie-eyes that turned them all to butter? And since when did he become unable to resist? Hange had tried it so many times, and she still does every now and then, but with her it had never been a problem for him. But now? Yeah, Eren fiddled him good. And really, really, the kid asked for so little and it couldn't hurt, could it?

"Oh, very well," Levi exclaimed with the attitude of one granting a great benefit, exasperated with both the boy and himself. "If you will shut the fuck up, we will continue your training."

Eren beamed up at him, and Levi could've sworn he saw tiny stars sparkling in them in comic-art style.

Dear Gods, since the fatigue had left his face, the kid hadn't stopped talking about it. Where his enthusiasm for training returned from, Levi couldn't tell. He liked him better when he sat quietly and sleepily in his bed. With the tangled hair, his eyes drowsy and yawning constantly. That sight alone was quite an exception to Levi's usual morning routine. But not the one really worth mentioning. It was 9:30 and by now he would normally have showered, made quick but thoroughly work of his cleaning habits, and he would be about done with his morning run on the treadmill before he would go up again, take another shower and have breakfast. Today? After he had watched over the boy throughout night with his warmth and his breathing right next to him, he had felt… relaxed. Almost rested. Which made him stay in bed, trying to remember when the last time was he did something like this. With a bitter taste, he realized that there had never been a previous time. Since he had met Erwin, there had been a good decade in which his life consisted of nothing but training. He stood up before the first sun rays kissed the morning leaves, drilling himself, learning, training, experimenting until his legs gave up somewhen late at night. Day in and day out. After that he had been on missions. Neither places nor times he could afford staying in bed. And before Erwin, the things he used as a bed could hardly be called as such. Besides, it had been dangerous to sleep. You didn't want to get caught without your feet on the ground.

When he had felt the boy stir in his arms, slowly waking up, Levi decided it was more safe to get out of bed before he noticed that Levi had been holding him in his sleep. He didn't feel comfortable with this shit, so it was better if the boy remained unknowing.

Since then Eren had been sitting between his sheets, at first looking like he was marveling about how he ended up in this room. When he noticed Levi sitting in the chair in the other corner, he blinked a few times as if not trusting his eyes. Judged by his scent, this had been the moment he remembered that he had sneaked in here and tried to snuggle up against him. He had grinned a bit awkwardly, excused himself, and walked into the bathroom, and Levi prayed for his own good that he wasn't using his toothbrush. He was willing to admit that the kid had acquired some privileges, but that he wouldn't survive. By the sound of the toilet flushing, Levi felt relieved. Afterwards, he heard the shower running, and he appreciated that the kid evidently was used to taking care of his hygiene in the morning.

And since he had come out again, he tried convincing Levi to resume the training lessons. Since the last time went so very well, Levi assumed that the kid was either plotting another move to get inside his pants or he truly was a bit of a masochist. Probably without even realizing it.

As the boy released his arm and strolled to the window, Levi watched the sway of his hips. Well, either way it was going to be interesting.

"You'll pay a high price, kid," he whispered to himself.

"Sorry, what was that?"

Levi stood up from the mattress he was sitting on and walked up to the boy. "What is there you can give me in return, I wonder?"

Eren had turned around with a puzzled look on his face. "What are you talking about?"

Levi allowed himself to smirk at the boy's naivety. "I'm talking remuneration. This job's description never said anything about teaching. How do you intend to pay me?"

He wanted to laugh at the disappointment that graced the brunette's features. "If you want money, why don't you just say so?"

Levi took another step towards him and leaned forward, placing his lips very close to the boy's ear. "I ain't talking money, kid."

He could almost feel the warmth of the delicious pink colour flushing the brunette's cheeks. "I- ehm... then what do you want?"

Levi turned his head and grabbed Eren by the neck, pressing forward to slid his mouth onto the brunette's.

* * *

Eren's eyes shut the second those pale lips ghosted over his own. He blamed the delicious bubbling inside his stomach on the happiness that he could continue his training with Levi and not that fact that said man wasted no time in trying to pry his mouth open with his tongue.

When Eren didn't react fast enough for him, Levi tugged the back of his hair to make him gasp, widening his parted lips. His other hand sneaked around his shoulder and travelled slowly down his spine as if counting every vertebra, massaging little circles on each of every single one. Green eyes widened in surprise when Eren felt the hand continuing further down, before it pressed against his ass, lifting him up against the raven's body. He blush deepened a dark red, but he was too lost in the tongue battle with Levi to care. The air between them grew heavy of their heat, and Eren felt the same fuzzy feelings stir in his stomach as he did in the living room two days ago. He wondered if they had even left back then. Because by the way their mouths melded together, it felt like they've never been separated.

Eren felt his shoulders colliding with something solid that turned out to be a dresser. He hadn't even noticed that they were moving across the room. A bit annoyed at being on the receiving end again, he finally kissed back, defending the cavern of his mouth with his own tongue. He sighed quietly into the other man's mouth when the hold of Levi's hand loosened from the back of his head in favour of leaning on top of the dresser behind him. The rough kissing had slowly dissolved into a warm caress, and Levi's body shifted. It caused his mouth to tilt slightly, and Eren happily took the opportunity to push the war into the raven's territory. The heady taste of Levi's mouth overwhelmed him for a second, but he didn't let it stop the eager exploration along the insides of Levi's cheeks. The other's tongue slid under his own in a way that made Eren's toes curl and his knees buckle. Shit, when had he become so damn devote?

Eren found he didn't really care that much when Levi's hand returned to the back of his head to pull him back and let both of them breathe for a second. Through the haziness, Eren noticed Levi's eyes were closed. But the raven didn't give him time to question why he wasn't looking at him.

When Levi came back this time, they met halfway, shoving all sense of reasoning and embarrassment to the back of Eren's head. His hands reached up to grab onto Levi's shirt, trying to get a hold on what was happening, but in response this hellish but soft tongue swiped on Eren's upper lip. Eren let out a weak moan when the other's just as soft fingertips slipped under the hem of his shirt and brushed against his bare stomach.

No sooner Eren's mind started to accept the pleasure of Levi's skin against his own, a loud noise shoot through the fog. They both jolted back, and Eren instantly grabbed at his pants when he saw that Levi's hands had chosen the same destination. The raven looked up at him, and Eren saw the foggy mixture of aggravation and distance in those cast iron eyes. He wasn't sure what to think of the inconsistency, but he assumed his gaze was worse.

"Fuck," the raven cursed as he turned and walked towards the door.

As he opened, Maria stood in front of him. "Mr. Levi. I was wondering if you've seen Sir Eren anywhere? Breakfast is taking place in the dining hall and he hasn't arrived yet."

Eren cowered against the dresser, hoping that Maria couldn't see him from her angle. He was sure, his face was flushed as a tomato's, and this added to him being in Levi's room, only left one more than evident conclusion. He didn't feel ashamed about being here or doing what they just did, but…

Okay, maybe he did feel ashamed. But shit, wasn't it normal? All of this were first times for him, and he still didn't had a clue how to handle himself. Much less the man on his side of the door.

"I haven't seen him, Maria," he heard Levi answering her. "If I do, I'll let him know you were looking for him."

First times…

Eren wondered if this was where they were going. Had Levi reached for his pants to do _it_? Eren put his hand up to his neck, drowning in images of being under Levi's body while he moved inside of him. What would that be like? To be taken by him? The reckless part of him was desperate to know.

* * *

Levi smelled another wave of arousal crushing against him, as he tried to get rid of the maid in front of his door. Shit, what a timing she had.

On the other hand, maybe he should see her as a blessing. When the boy somehow managed to push his tongue inside of his mouth and Levi slipped his own tongue underneath the boy's, his vision went white. In his veins, his blood was rushing with a numbing pace, he felt his fangs elongating, and he knew his eyes were shining like pale moons in the darkest of nights. He had to separate himself from the boy, but he was far from wanting to stop. Everything of him was just too tempting. His scent, the little noises he made against his lips… the heat of his skin that burned the very tips of his fingers whenever he touched him. Yet, Levi had somehow succeeded gathering the reins again when he kissed the boy once more. He didn't know if it was the constant feeding from the blood bags Hange sent him or because they were only doing kissing or even because he truly didn't want to hurt the boy like that. Shit, it might have been all of those reasons combined, but the outcome was what mattered. He had regained control. Something that had been unthinkable before. But wasn't that exactly why Eren was so bewildering? And therefore piquing his curiosity? Nothing felt quite right, but yet so good whenever the kid was around. He made him act in ways, Levi didn't know he was capable of. But who knew what would happen if they'd take it further down that road? Which, honestly, he had intended when he reached for the boy's pants in the heat of the moment.

So, yes. Maria had a great timing.

He shut the door again and turned to the boy who hadn't moved an inch from where they parted. And evidently, he was thinking about the same Levi had thought just seconds ago.

"You should go down, kid. Your family's having breakfast as it seems."

Eren lifted his gaze to him. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"I am not hungry," Levi said as he made his way into the bathroom.

"That's what you said last night as well," Eren replied, and when Levi turned around again, a flirtatious smirk played around the corners of the boy's lips, rendering Levi speechless. Shit, confidence looked way too well on him.

* * *

Training had been grueling. Eren was a mess today. His feet were slow, his hands were always in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he had no physical coordination. Man, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find his balance. His body was like a shifting, lurching bag of water; if he moved in one direction, the whole thing flopped over on him.

They've gone through this sequence of coordinated body movements for a good ninety minutes by now, and to be honest, Eren had thought that things would went a little differently. After the kind of inspiring morning he had, the joyful breakfast with his family and a rather successful Math class in the afternoon, he was quite confident that training would be as delightful as the rest of the day had been. His plan to get closer to Levi and learning something very helpful at the same time hadn't by any means be a new one. After all, this had been his intentions for the first attempt as well. But he figured that after last night and him having proof that Levi was on the same line as him, it would go a lot smoother. Instead, the man had obviously decided to NOT go any easier on him.

"You're doing worse, brat. Concentrate!"

Putting his hands and the weight of his upper body on his knees, Eren panted as he let his head dangling loosely from his spine for a moment, before heaving it up again. "I try, but I am a bit distracted today."

"Doesn't matter. I won't waste my time on you if you don't intend to take this seriously."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm having this agonized look on my face because I'm having so. Much. Fun here." Eren let his butt fall onto the mats rather disgracefully, but he didn't care anymore at this point. "God, everything hurts…"

Levi marched up to him. "Oh, quit the whining and grow a dick, will you?"

When he was right next to him, looking down on him as if he was year's greatest loser, Levi kicked him in the calf. It wasn't hard, really, but Eren winced at the slight contact. "Ouch, damnit."

The man beside him knelt down, suddenly giving of a sincere air as he placed one hand on his ankle while the other palpated up his lower leg. When he reached the hollow of his knee, Eren cursed and involuntarily tried to get away from the other's touch.

Levi looked at him angrily. "You've strained your gracilis. Why the fuck didn't you say something?"

"I'm sorry, doctor, I promise I won't do it again. By the way, I've no idea what you're talking about."

"It's one of the adductors of your anterior thigh."

"And?"

"You've strained it."

"Yeah, that's what I got so far. And now? Is it bad?"

"More or less. Because of its location, the gracilis muscle is particularly vulnerable, not just to trauma but to general wear and tear. Such injuries can cause pain and make mobility difficult, but fortunately are relatively easy to treat. Even more so if first aid is used immediately after the injury occurs."

Levi raised himself from the ground and walked towards the equipment room. When Eren saw him stepping behind the perspex and roaming through one of the wall cabinets, he called: "Why do you know so much about those things."

Levi seemed to have found what he was looking for and came back to him, holding something in his hand.

"Anatomy's important, kid. Especially for someone who benefits from knowing which parts of the body you better not cut when you plan to interrogate someone. Spread your legs."

Eren laid back onto his back, doing as he was told. Yet, he watched Levi intensively as he crouched down to the ground once more, this time right between his parted thighs. What he just told him, should probably scare him off a bit more than it did. And made him feel less excited. Shit, something was genuinely wrong with him. From the very beginning, he knew what kind of man Levi was, although he hadn't known the details. The only thing he was sure about was that this man can cause danger. Serious danger. Like the one sixty tons of vehicle could cause. And even after he learnt more and more about him, he had never felt frightened by him. Frustrated, angry, desperate. Even turned on. But never frightened. Which once again let him assume he was slowly becoming mental.

"Elevate your leg on my shoulder," Levi's voice cut through his thoughts.

As he followed this order as well, feeling even more exposed at the awkward position he was currently in, Levi rolled up the nylon fabric of his training pants. How lucky he was that Maria had bought him some new pairs after her confession on last training's day. Unimaginable what he would feel like right now if he had to train in one of Mikasa sport shorts.

Levi started to wrap a compress around his knee.

"So reckless," he mumbled under a sigh.

"Hey, you're the one who pushed me so hard today," Eren defended himself. "Moreover, who's the one who got shot just a couple of weeks ago? Talk about reckless, why don't you?"

The man with his leg still on his shoulder gave him an annoyed look. "I know my limits, kid. On the very contrary to a certain brat who didn't get off my dick about continuing giving lessons and has now to rest for at least a week before we can do that." Eren let his head fall on the ground, suddenly feeling very tired about their situation.

When Levi finished wrapping him up, he put a cold pack against the hollow of his knee. "Here, keep it there for a couple of minutes. It'll help reduce the inflammation and thus the pain."

Eren locked his eyes with the raven's. "At least a week, you say?"

Levi's gaze softened as he seemed to sense his disappointment. "Don't worry. There are other things I can teach you where you have nothing to do than just standing straight. Think you can handle that?"

Damn his shitty hormonal mind, but every one of his mental processes ground to a halt at Levi's words. His body was what responded. Instantly. He thickened in his pants, his erection popping up fast as a breath even as he was utterly ashamed of himself. Closing his eyes, he tried to figure out how he could manage to kick his own ass and still remain lying still as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

What he saw when he opened his eyes again, he wasn't prepared for. Emerald met iron and Eren held Levi's gaze, blushing at the hungry look in the other's eyes, but also feeling deep sorrow about the inner turmoil, Levi was obviously going through. Pushing himself onto his elbows, looking at the pale, beautiful man before him, he wanted to tell him that it's okay if he didn't want to do this. But before the words could slip from his lips, Levi ran a ﬁnger over his weeping erection. "Stop being a fucking tease," Levi said in a deep voice, causing a shiver to run down Eren's spine. The brunette's mouth felt suddenly dry and he licked his lips before closing his eyes halfway and moaning, "Oh god..." He watched Levi carefully putting the leg from his shoulder to the ground, pushing the cold pack under his knee, before he leaned forwards and was on all fours, hovering over him like an animal watching its prey. The moment Levi's body weighted down Eren gasped and arched into the pale man. Levi's hands gripped his partly exposed hips and forced Eren back onto the ground. Shuddering slightly as Levi's erection pushed against his own, he felt buffering waves came out of the other's skin, something like heat rising off asphalt.

When delicate fingers slid through the back of his hair, Eren ran his hands up Levi's sides and squeezed his shoulders before pulling him down to his mouth. Or maybe he kissed him first, Eren wasn't really sure. What he was sure off was that Levi's mouth had a numbing and simultaneously electrifying effect on his body.

As Levi slowly let his tongue slip over his bottom lip, Eren felt something spark in him. The electric surge that went through him distracted Eren long enough for Levi to enter his mouth, gliding across his own wet muscle and easily starting to increase the kiss. But Eren wasn't going to complain about another chance to taste him. He was becoming addicted to the taste of spices. Eren's eyes slammed shut when another squirm intensified the unusual heat in his body. Levi slid his tongue along the inside of his cheek before retreating, allowing both of them to breathe.

"Damn," Eren muttered when Levi's forehead pushed his head to the side. There was a hot breath on his neck as Levi pressed against him, and Levi licked the side of Eren's neck, earning a small whimper from the boy below him.

Eren tugged at the other's hair in retaliation while trying to keep his throat from making any more noises. He hated sounding weak, especially around him. But it was hard to swallow the groan at the delicious pressure of lips against his erratic pulse. He shut his eyes as if in pain, his head arching back while his body shook.

His eyelids glued shut, he was left unprepared for the feather-light run of Levi's fingertips up his stomach. The action had Eren gasping for air and thrashing his hips to continue the torturous pleasure. Another heated lick was placed along his neck, and Eren felt his nails dig into Levi's shoulders when his hips pressed him forcefully into the ground underneath him. Eren tried fighting against the pinning, but the struggling only increasing the winding coil of pleasure in his stomach. How did this happen? One minute Levi was saying he had no dick, the next he didn't stop grinding against it. The pre-cum Eren could feel slipping from his tip only made his squirming more frantic. He needed to cool the heating ache in his stomach. He was currently playing Jump rope at the edge of his orgasm.

But Levi had other plans. Before Eren knew what happened, his vision became dark and his arms were lifted above his head. Cool air dusted over his heated skin, and he saw a pair of shirts flying on the floor before the man in front of him returned to his previous place on top of him.

The first contact between their skins was hot, making Eren hiss when Levi's body brushed against one of rosy nubs on his chest. The slight arch of his back made room for the other's hands to sneak underneath his back and pull Eren's hips against his own. The pants' fabric that separated their bodies was both heaven and hell. It made Eren bite Levi's shoulder to keep some semblance of sanity, as he tried to think of anything that had ever felt as strong as now. But actually, Levi wasn't giving him time to think of anything other than finding a way to rub through the material of those damned pants. Stopping himself from moaning became more and more impossible.

It wasn't until Eren felt the pressure of Levi sucking hard at his neck that he saw white. His head cracked against the ground while he swore, the complete pleasure of his orgasm dulling any pain he was going to feel later. The continual rubbing against his body was intensifying the sensitive skin of his cock, making the orgasm uncontrollable. Their hips continued to press and grind into each other, prolonging the pleasure as long as possible. After what seemed like an eternity, Levi slowly stopped his movements and Eren tried to catch his breath. His body felt boneless, not a bit of strength left in it, and his head fell back to the ground. He watched the red marks starting to show, and Eren felt guilty at how much force he had used.

He watched Levi rolling off of him before the man sat up, his knees up and his elbows resting on them, his arm creating a circle of solitude in which the raven let his head hang loose. No one would've ever guessed what had been going on between them when looking at him. His breathing was low and steady, his face as straight as ever.

The silence was becoming deafening to him, and stretching as wide as a six-lane highway.

Well, if this wasn't awkward.

While Eren could feel his crotch getting cold due to the moisture in his pants, he wondered if this had been as one-sided as it felt right now. His face heated up from a whole other feeling than those there've been before, and he felt tears threatening to collect in his eyes.

He didn't want to cry. Not now. Not ever in front of this man. If what had happened right now made Levi realize that he didn't want him for whatever reason, Eren wasn't going to make it worst by breaking out in tears. He ain't gonna lose his fucking countenance. Ain't gonna happen. So with all the pride he could muster, Eren swallowed his tears.

Finally able to, he shifted his body and almost yelped at the sore skin around his waist.

In the shapes of finger bruises along his hip bone, Levi had left his marks as well.


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

Carefully, Eren balanced the glass of milk and the plate with the bread and meat stacked, while lifting a hand to open the door to the library. It was next day's morning, 7 a.m. and a Saturday. Normally, he would be swearing bluntly if he was awake this early in the morning on a class-free day, but this time it was no one else's fault but his own.

He hadn't slept well again, and he felt like it was slowly becoming a habit of his. Which was even more unlike him since he was known for his ability to fall asleep wherever he laid his head down when he was tired. He wouldn't even wake through an earthquake. But this morning some little noise woke him up, like some light-sleeper he'd never been before. While trying to figure out what that noise might have been, his stomach had started clenching and begging to get filled.

He pushed through the large double winged door and walked into the second story room, right up to the desk standing under a little spiral staircase that again lead to the upper floor.

Sitting down in the desk chair and with a wall plastered with books behind his back, he took in what he'd prepared himself for lunch.

He wished he'd put the sandwich together better. Maria had shown him how to do it right some time ago, and no doubt it would have looked less messy if she had done it. But Eren didn't want to contact her about something like that at such an hour, and he also wanted to prepare it himself.

Turning around, he took a book from the shelves behind him. This was one, he'd started a while ago, and for some reason he hadn't continue.

It hadn't been a bad book at all. In fact, he liked it very much. T.C. Boyle's World's End was the story of several generations of families in the Hudson River Valley, and it truly entertaining. Dark, satirical, but entertaining. Especially the way Boyle brought together all the different characters and storylines was masterfully. He started reading it after watching one episode of How I Met Your Mother with Mikasa a few months ago.

What better time to continue a neglected story then early in the morning when he cannot sleep anyway?

He placed his fingers on the top of the book's spine, and tried fumbling in out of its spot on the tightly packed rack. After succeeding, he turned around again, opened the page he left his bookmark in, and balanced it vertically in the cradle of his palm while with his other hand grabbed he for the sandwich.  
Eating and reading at the same time, he hoped his poorly packed snack wouldn't fall apart and make a mess of this place.

After a good two hours and almost reaching the middle part of the story, Eren felt his eyes closing again. He'd never been one to handle lack of sleep well. He didn't know how some people can get along with little to no sleep night after night and not losing their minds.

Placing the mark back between the pages, he laid down the book and thought about doing the same with himself on the chaise longue at the other end of the room. Armin should be awake by now, but somehow he felt like wanting to be by himself a little bit longer. Throwing the napkin from the sandwich in the wastebasket, the plodded through the room and laid down into the cushions, turned onto his back and put one arm above his closed eyes.

In the silence of his own breathing, he felt the dump beating of his heart in his chest as well as in the hollow of his knee. It didn't hurt as bad as he thought it would after he'd went up to his room the previous evening. Seemed like Levi's first aid treatment had really done the trick.

Man, why couldn't this stupid weirdness in his "relationship" with the man just scram. He felt like he was in that Katy Perry song that wouldn't stop playing in the radio a good ten years ago. Levi was hot and then cold, yes, then he's no… yeah, the next line he didn't want to think about. In a nutshell, Levi confused him massively. His actions were completely ill-matched, one moment he was all over him, his skin feeling hot against his own, and then, out of the blue, he was acting like he wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

Well, he never actually fled from him. Most times Eren was the one who left. But he could see it in his eyes.

Those stupid eyes in the colour of stones and just as hard. Piercing like daggers pushing through your skin. But oh so very captivating when softening before your own.

* * *

Levi hadn't lied when he said he just had to be standing for those other things he wanted to teach him. He'd been kind of surprised when Levi caught him as he felt the library after he'd wake up and told him, he should be down in the basement at 6:00pm and that he didn't need his training clothes. He'd been almost certain that after both lessons ended in Levi being on top of him and Levi evidently not being cool with it that the older man would quit trying to teach him.

And what he could possibly learn down in the basement without training or swim clothes, Eren had been scrambling his head over ever since.

When he stepped down the stairs, opened the door to the basement, and saw Levi standing in front of a special steel door, he didn't pass all that often, it dawn on him.

By the far end of the gym and behind the door Levi was waiting at, was a shooting range was located. Feeling a bit unsettled, Eren strolled over to him, and Levi pushed the door open. "Take place against the wall."

Eren followed his order and settled back against the whitewashed concrete. The place was built along the lines of a shoe box, all long and thin, and it had two shooting booths facing outward. The targets hung from tracks stretching down the ceiling and each one could be manipulated remotely from the master station to vary distance or provide movement. They were shaped like heads and torsos, which alone made Eren feel even more uncomfortable. He hadn't had a problem with weapons all together, but somehow he really wasn't into firearms. Knives, daggers or even crossbows; stuff you used for hunting... yeah, those things were cool. But firearms? They were scary to him. Definite. Used to kill other people. And deadly almost every time, even if handled by a toddler or the earth's last blithering idiot. Often even more so then.

Levi shut the door, then stood in front of Eren, crossing his forearms over his chest and spreading his stance. As he looked at him, he seemed as impenetrable as what Eren was leaning against.

"Weapon tonight is the nine-millimeter autoloader. The term semiautomatic for these handguns is a misnomer. You will be using a Glock." He reached behind to the small of his back and took out a fatal piece of black metal. "Note that the safety on these is on the trigger." He reviewed the specs of the gun and the bullets.

He stepped in front of Eren. "Give me your hand."

Insecure, Eren presented his hand. He put the gun in it without even brushing his skin. "Hold it like-"  
"Wait a minute, I don't-"  
"-this." He positioned the butt against Eren's palm. "Here's the safety. On. Off. Got it? On… off. You don't need to be in tight to kill with that, but even if you don't hit your target, it sure as hell will slow down your enemy long enough so you can get away. Just point and pull the trigger. Don't cock it or anything like those fools you see on TV. And aim for the torso, it'll be a bigger target."

Eren stared at the gun, feeling it's lethal weight.

"Tonight we work on stance and aim," he heard Levi saying, his tone suggesting that he wasn't going to argue about today's lesson's subjekt.

Eren took a deep breath, trying to gulp down the heavy knot in his throat as Levi handed him a pair of goggles and headphones for hearing protection, temporary freeing him from the metal again.

Boy, he was willing to bet he was going to suck at shooting. Nothing of this felt right.

* * *

Eren didn't look all too well when he had pressed the Glock into his palms. He didn't blame him though. Usually you were better off frightening those things. In the end, fear was what protected you from dying in stupid ways. But after they had parted yesterday, Levi couldn't stop thinking about what would happened to the kid if his job here was done. He was a hothead, that much was evident, and considering his heritage, he should get used to defending himself. No matter how little he might like it, but firearms were one of the most efficient ways to do that. So he had to overcome this fear, at least to a degree where it stopped clouding his ability to make decisions.

And who knew how quickly a situation like that could develop. Levi wasn't so sure anymore if the real threat to the boy hadn't already passed the mansion's doorstep. The effects, he had on him frightened him. Last time, he barely resisted the devil lurking inside him by biting through his own wrist. Without the self-inflicted pain, there was no telling what could have happened. But he couldn't stop. Some wicked gravitational force pulled him back to the boy every time he once anew decided that he should keep away from him.

As he watched the boy eyeing the piece of metal in hands, Levi remembered the first time he'd been out with his boss.

"It's best to think of them as corpses already," Erwin had said, his voice rich and dark. In front of Levi, the halfway headless body had twitched and sank to the ground. They had been taken by surprise, and Erwin didn't managed to make a clean cut the first time. Later, he would teach Levi how to kill cleanly; quickly and efficiently, so that the trauma wouldn't void the guts. He had been used to nasty shit. He really was. But back then, without his senses blurred by emotion or hunger and just trying to concentrate on what he had to learn from Erwin, he had wanted to vomit from the stench.

"They may be moving, they may still be living," Erwin had continued, and little Levi felt his stomach turn violently, "but they are dead all the same. Nothing but breathing, walking corpses in your way who will not hesitate to make you a carcass as well."

... They were dead, and they didn't know it...

Yet.

Levi shook his head and went back to the topic at hand. As he positioned Eren's stance with quick hands, he started going through the laws Erwin had taught him throughout his training and which became a mantra to him he used repeating inside his hand before every new mission he was set on.

He took both of Eren's hands and placed them around the gun's butt. "If the enemy is in range, so are you."

He put the his index finger along the side of the barrel. "The easy way is always mined."

With one hand, he pushed the brunette's arms in a ninety degree angle from his body. "Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous."

He positioned his right leg one step behind. "Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire."

The other leg one step in the front. "If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed at you."

He pushed Eren's head down so his eyes were level with the rear and front sight. "The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack."

He mentioned for him to pull up his shoulders and put his upper body under tension. "If your attack is going well, you have walked into an ambush."

He went around him and now placed his index finger on the trigger. "Make it tough enough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out."  
He unlocked the safety. "Anything you do can get you shot, including doing nothing."

He stepped away from Eren. "Shoot."

* * *

As Eren lowered the muzzle of the Glock he'd been given, he stared down the range at a target ﬁfty feet away. Slipping the safety back into place, he was utterly speechless.

"That's some real Dirty Harry shit right there," Levi said.

In total disbelief, Eren hit a yellow button to his left and the eight-and-a-half-by-eleven sheet of paper whizzed up to him like a dog being called home. In the center, clustered like a daisy, were six perfect shots.

Holy shit.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and Levi's voice was proud. "You did good, brat. Real good." His chest tightened around his swelling heart. He reached out and unclipped the target.

"All right," Levi said. "That's it for today. Don't forget to check your weapon. And remember, if you're out on your own, keep it in the outside pocket of your coat on the right side. You want it in your business hand if you have to use it." Eren folded up the paper and put it in the back pocket of his jeans.

* * *

Half an hour and a quick shower later, Eren went out of his room and walked down the hallway, past Mikasa's and halted in front of the next door. Still jumping in excitement and pride, he unlocked it, bursting into the room. He was just about to call out for the blonde, when the words stuck in his throat. _What the…?_

The room looked as if hurricane Katrina had paid him a visit.

Everywhere, in every corner, there were pieces of clothing spread out like on an Indian bazaar. Well, if the colors had been taken from it. A dozen white shirts were lying on the sheets. Jackets and blazers and coats in all shades of blue and black adorned the floor, making it look like waves of the sea at night thanks to the various shoes underneath. The only colours were those of the, as it felt, hundreds of ties lying on the drawer, on the shelves, on the table and even one dangled from the curtain rod.

From the bathroom, Eren heard his friend shouting. "Oh, by Willy Wonka, the Wanker, you have to be kidding me!"

Eren tried to suppress his laughter, and instead he sneaked up to the second door of the room, peeking a glance around it's frame.

Armin was standing in front of the mirror, his arms up in the air and his hands tangled in his blond locks. But the very best, even better then his unique style of swearing, was the look on his friend's face.

"I can see you Eren," Armin hissed at him when he spotted his reflection in the mirror.

Eren rose from his hiding position. "What the hell are you doing there?" Eren snickered.

"What does it look like, huh? I'm trying to do my hair, but this shitbag of sunshine on my head doesn't play along." Armin turned around and his expression shifted from angry to wretched. "Eren, please! Help me," he whined.

As Eren gazed at the blond mop, it looked messy and sticky almost as if Armin had tried glueing it flat to his head with about a ton of gel. "You know your hair is way to long for this, right?"

"I just started with the bangs, and when it didn't look the way I imagined, I tried geling back everything! And now… this happened!"

Eren was about to ask why Armin wanted to style his hair in the first place, but then he took in a full head-to-toe sight of his friend. Armin wore a dark grey pinstripe suit, a pair of shiny black dress shoes matching his belt and a shirt in the colour of cream. The first two buttons of his collar open, and its sleeves adorned with expensive looking cufflinks.

"Shit, what're you even up to? You're giving off some serious Dan Price vibes, "Eren joked. "Well, except for the hair, of course."

Armin started to worry his lip between his teeth as his cheeks flushed a fair pink.

"Don't tell me-"

"I might be going out on a date," he deadpanned.

Eren jaw dropped. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me! You? A date?"

As the blonde's face shifted to an expression somewhere between angry and hurt, Eren realized how mean he sounded.

"Sorry, pal. But, come on, why didn't you say something? Who is she? Where did you guys met? Damnit, Armin, you have to tell me everything!?"

"Based on your reaction just now, maybe I shouldn't," Armin pouted, but Eren was hot on his heels as he tried to leave the bathroom. He clung himself around the shorter boy's body, holding him tightly in place.

"Aw, you know I was just teasing. You're making fun of me all the time and now you can't endure some of it yourself? Say, when do you meet?"

Armin, still bearing most of Eren's weight on his back, pulled a pocket watch from his pair of trousers. "In about one hour and a half. I'm picking her up at her house and we'll go eat somewhere."

Eren knew that the last sentence was probably only halfway true. Armin wasn't the kind of guy who takes out a girl without knowing exactly, where to. He likely had combed the whole internet for the ideal spot. But that wasn't the issue at hand.

"That means we've still got time to get this mess out of you hair. Seriously, Armin, just let your hair be like it always is. If your Cameron Diaz look hadn't scared her off already, you'll be fine."

His friend shot him a nasty look, but turned around again and sighed.

"I wanted to prepare some conversation starters in case none of us knows what to say."

"Yeah, you know what? You're the smartest person I know, and if you can't come up with something to talk about, then probably no one will. I wouldn't worry as much about the talking part as I would about your hair at the moment."

Eren let go of the blonde, and walked into the other room. Luckily, the armchair in his room was one with a adjustable backrest. Eren shoved the thing into the bathroom and in front of the basin before turning it around.

"Take a seat."

When Armin gave him a questioning look, he added: "That way you don't risk getting those fancy clothes in a jam. Or ruin your makeup."

His friend sat down, obviously exasperated by Eren's shit-eating grin. "Hey, you're the one who just had his coming out. If anyone's into makeup, it's you, moron. By the way, I didn't know being gay comes with a fable for hairstyling and spa stuff and shit."

"Aw, there's my boy!"

Them two went on with their mutual ragging while Eren searched for a pair of pillows. Armin was sitting a little too low, but after placing two of them under his butt and putting a rolled-up towel in his nape, Eren could finally start washing the mop of blond hair.

"So, how did you two meet?" Eren asked while massaging shampoo into the thick masses.

"She's in one of my classes. Neurobiology. One day, she asked me out on a coffee. I was close to losing my shit, but it turned out that she is really easy to talk to. Her name is Krista."

"Sounds nice."

"It was. But after that we didn't get many chances to talk. Every time I went to her, she had things to do or was dragged away by some freckled brunette girl. I myself was surprised when she wrote me a few days ago that she would be on her way through London and would like to see me."

Eren listened to Armin enthuse about the girl. From what he heard, she seemed pretty much perfect for his friend. Also blond with blue eyes. Even a bit shorter than he was. And a matching shy but caring personality.

He was happy for him that he seemed to have found someone who he enjoyed spending time with. Someone who was easy to talk to.

But in the depths of his mind he asked himself why he couldn't have something like that for himself. Everything he learnt in the fields of crushes and attraction was mind-spinning, illogical and kind of exhausting in the end. But maybe it was because he was inclined towards his own gender that everything was so complicated. Or maybe because he and Levi had already done stuff he couldn't imagine Armin had done with the girl yet. Or maybe, and that was his most preferred guess, it was simply because of the person whom he rooted for. Levi wasn't what people would call 'easy to get along with'. Quite the contrary, actually. But what should he do, he felt drawn to him.

After Eren washed out all the shampoo, he patted his hair dry and then watched his friend blowing away the last of moisture with an air dryer. They kept talking about where Armin and the girl would go to and what he intended to do at the end of the date when things went well for him. Eren was certain that Armin didn't bring up the topic of his own crush for the simple reason that he didn't want Eren to feel bad for having such a hard time while he himself could go out with a nice girl. It was thoughtful of him, but in vain nevertheless. Of course, Eren did think about it.

When Armin finished and was ready to head out, they walked out of the room and into the large entrance hall. In front of the mansion there was a black limousine waiting for Armin and the guy opening the door explained him that he'd also function as his security guard tonight because of the circumstances. Well, that answered the question about Armin's chances for his first kiss tonight.

As Eren was starting to fume about that this personal matter of his father was also affecting his best friend, Armin put if off as if he was actually relieved by not having to think about that. Eren saw him off as he realized that he totally forgot telling Armin about his gun lesson this afternoon and how he aced it.


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

It was seven at night, but he could've sworn it was three in the morning. What a day. Training had started at noon, and so did the ass-kicking. The three-hour workout had been brutal. Running laps. Jujitsu. Hand-to-hand weapons training, including an introduction to nunchakus, or nunchucks.

Those two wooden sticks connected by a chain were a nightmare for him, but he wasn't about to give up. Levi had already left and Eren had insisted on staying down in the basement.

He started spinning them again slowly at his side, the whirling sound oddly relaxing. Gradually increasing the velocity, he set them flying at a clip and then switched them to his left. Took them back. Again and again, until the sweat was once more coming out on his skin. Again and again and -

 _Ah, damn it!_

He clonked the shit out of himself. Right on the head. The blow made him weak in the knees, and after fighting the sag for a moment, he let himself sink down. Bracing himself with his arm, he put a hand to his left temple. Stars. Definitely seeing stars.

In the midst of all his blinking, soft laughter drifted up from behind him.

Mikasa was coming at him, hiding a smile behind one of her hands.

"What are you doing there, Eren? Since when do you have a thing for these kind of instruments?"

"Laugh all you want, but if I keep this up, I'll surpass you in no time," Eren said playfully. Mikasa giggled some more and moved behind Eren, taking his hands in her own. "We'll see, brother. But I won't bet on it if you keep doing it like this. See, the trick is to get a feeling for the spins. Before you start doing artistic turns that'll only make your head bleed, you should stick with just spinning them until you get it. Don't haste."

 _Sounds familiar._ "That's what Levi said as well."

Mikasa backed away from him, and a strange tone mingled in her voice. "Levi."  
Eren turned around to look at his sister. It was still a mystery to him why Mikasa seemed to think so little of his teacher. He knew, they used to work out down together for quite some time now, and he'd guessed that Mikasa had already gotten used to the man. But now that they were talking about him, Eren seemed to be wrong.

"Yes, Levi... Say, Mikasa, what's your problem with him? Is he bullying you when no one's watching or what is it?" Though he seriously doubted, his sister would be affected by something like that.

"No, of course not. It's not that I have a problem with him, rather than with the two of you." Eren gave her a questioning look. "I don't know, the way he looks at you feels strange. Almost as if he wants to devour you."

Eren tried to will down the blush he felt making its way onto his cheeks, but wasn't sure if he succeeded.

"But you seemed suspicious of him even before he and I started hanging out."

Mikasa hesitated, obviously looking for the right words. "I just don't want him to hurt you."

"How could he hurt me? It's his job to keep us safe, remember?"

"I don't mean in a physical way, Eren."

Trying to play dumb, he said: "W-what are you even talking about? It's not like we're dating or something." Yep, he definitely had lost the battle with his blushing cheeks by now.

Mikasa looked at him worriedly. "Just be careful, okay? I care too much about you to see you hurt."

Before Eren could counter with anything, his sister already headed for the door.

Was it really that obvious what was going down between him and Levi? He couldn't believe that Levi was actually looking at him the way Mikasa said. If anything, it was him who looked like he wanted to lick Levi from head-to-toe. He doubted, he had any effect on the older man at all. Since the first time they kissed in the living room, Levi always seemed out of it when they were making out. Eren almost thought that he had lost interest in him already, but just didn't know how to tell him. And Eren was too scared to ask, because then it might be over even quicker.

He decided to call it a night, put away the nunchucks and went up the stairs.

On the ground floor, he looked outside the window. The night was the color of a dove, the stars faded by a thin saturation of clouds that was backlit by a full moon. According to the calendar spring was coming, but it was just in theory, if you went by the landscape. The fountain in front of the mansion remained out of commission for the winter, empty and waiting to be reﬁlled. He went to the large double-door that lead to the backyards and stepped into the cold night.

To his left a few trees were like black skeletons reaching to the sky, pleading with their bony arms for the sun to return and get stronger. Snow lingered on the lawns, stubbornly hanging in over ground that was still frozen solid.

The compound's security wall was off in the distance, a twenty-foot-tall, three-foot thick bulwark that encircled the property. The thing was strung with security cameras and motion detectors, a good soldier packing a shitload of ammo. But all that was just small potatoes, really. The true keep-out was the 120 volts of electrical charge that ran across the top in curls of barbed wire.

Safety ﬁrst. Always.

Funny, how this explained the stoic raven's presence, and at the same time, it did not.

It's been over two months by now and no other word from the mysterious threat. As much as he'd been against the stranger in his home, he was glad about his father's actions now. It still felt silly and unreasonable to him, but at least he was gaining some sort of profit from it.

The wind held a cheek-slapping chill as he walked over to the right, the pebbles of the courtyard shifting under his shoes.

Since their last incident in the gym, the training might have had continued, but Levi was once again on distance to him. They talked normally, sometimes they ate together with his family. But other than setting times for their lessons, Levi didn't looked out for his company.

Eren followed down the snow-patched lawn, passing ﬂattened down ﬂower beds and the swimming pool in the back. The wind smelled like earth and cold air, a combination that made the inside of his nose tingle.

He wondered if he could make Levi sleep with him as long as he didn't find the courage to tell him, he wasn't interested anymore. It would be nothing but a pity-fuck, and Eren knew it. But he would take it. He would take everything, the man was willing to give him.

* * *

Up in his room, Levi sat on his bed and wondered if Eren was ever going to sleep in his bed again. It had only been a few nights, but he felt like missing the warmth against his body already. Strange how fast the mind adapted to some things.

He stood up to get into his bathroom, when he passed the window and noticed a movement in the courtyard. He stopped in his tracks and saw the brat walking in the chilly night with his sweat-soaked training clothes still on him. Anger crawled up his chest. He went for the handles and opened the window wide, leaning outside.

"You sure want to fuck with you heath, don't you?" he barked at the boy who turned around and looked up with a puzzled expression. Their eyes met. "Get your ass up here or I will do it for you," Levi threatened.

He watched the boy stumbling back into the mansion and a few moments later, Levi smelled him through the door before he even knocked. "Come in already."

The brat opened the door and stepped inside before a level A shudder rattled through his body.

"So fucking reckless."

Levi walked up to him and grabbed Eren by the hand, pulling him towards the bathroom. "Since when was I degraded to a stupid babysitter, I wonder," Levi said as they stood next to the shower and reached for Eren's shirt.

Except his hands didn't make it. They were caught by a pair of cold palms, and Levi lifted his gaze to the boy's eyes. He stared into a face that was unreadable. And didn't like that at all. Even the kid's scent didn't tell him anything this time. "What's up, brat?"

As if returning to himself from God knows where, Eren's expression softened and his cheeks heated up, becoming pink. He still wasn't saying anything though. "Come on, spit it. What's on that useless little head of yours?"

The brunette squirmed a bit as his blush intensified and the scent of his arousal flared up. "I- I was wondering… I want…," he stuttered, then squeezed his eyes shut before blurting out a bit louder: "I want to sleep with you!"

It was almost adorable that the brat did make such a fuss about something Levi knew all along. But he couldn't really focus on the cute brunette in front of him when what he was saying meant risk for him as well. He was more than tempted to give Eren what he asked for, if he didn't fear for the effect the kid had on him. Only the thought of being with him like that made his body hum in a dangerous way, and he felt the tips of his teeth tingle.

"You reek of sweat. There's no way I am going to sleep in the same bed with you like that. Take a shower and we'll see what we can do about this. And do it properly." He reached inside the cabin and turned on the hot water before he headed out the room, closing the door behind him.

Maybe there was a way he could satisfy the brat for now without getting into too dangerous territory. Walking through the room, Levi listened to the sounds on the other side of the door as he waited for the brat to finish.

He could make this just about him.

He felt good today. The hum was definitely there, but it felt controllable. He could do this. He had fed earlier that day. And last time he managed somehow as well.

Twenty minutes later, the door opened and a cloud of hot steam curled into the room. Eren had switched into one of the robes that always hang on the bathroom's wall and shyly walked out of the doorframe.

Levi's eyes followed him as he moved around the room, circling him, getting closer. He forced his face to relax, kept his breathing even, made his body still while Eren would find the guts to engage him. When he hadn't made much of a progress five minutes later and Levi was sure, he had himself under control completely, he said: "Sit down in the armchair."

Eren did as he was told and placed his ass on the leather-clad cushion. Levi got to his feet and approached him, sensing that he was already getting hotter.

He stopped in front of the brunette and looked down at him. "You sure, you want this?"

Eren nodded and chewed at his lower lip, averting his eyes to the ground.

"Alright." Levi slid his fingers through the thickness of brown hair, combing it back down the other's nape, before caressing them along his jawline. He grabbed Eren's chin and lifted it up to pull that delicious mouth up to his own.

He kissed him soft at the beginning, just to keep him distracted as he reached for the knot of his robe to open it. Knowing that Eren wasn't as confident as he pretended to be, Levi figured he would feel less ashamed if he wasn't looking at him directly. It'd also solve one of his own problems.

He kissed his way from the brat's full lips down his jawline and to the cradle of his neck. As he felt his pulse against his lips, Levi realized that this probably wasn't the best place to stay if he didn't want to lose it. So he just kept hovering above the brunette so that his face was hidden even if Eren would turn around.

"Put your feet up."

* * *

It was a relief to hear the bathroom door shut, and after his shower he spent even longer than he usually did, brushing his teeth and flossing and using the toilet. When he started to rearrange the Q-tips and the Motrin in the medicine cabinet, he knew he had to go back out. He opened the door.

Levi was right where he'd expected him, all the way over on the edge of the bed, facing him with his eyes open.

As he came across the room, he wished he'd stop looking at him. He felt like he was fainting in a couple of moments due to the blood rushing in his ears, so nervous was he. Trying to prolong the time until the final crash, he wandered from one corner of the room to the other, thinking about anything else than what was happening right now. He remembered himself talking to Armin the other morning. It was the day after his date, and he was teasing Armin about his date, even though he really was curious how it went. The blonde had told him that they had eaten in a fancy French cuisine restaurant and then went for a walk along a nearby river. He hadn't needed his conversation starters, which he had written down in the car on the way to her despite Eren's dissuasion. Armin said, he had felt like the last fool on earth for most of the evening, but yet he had so much to tell that Eren knew, his buddy had had a great time. From what he said, he hadn't done so badly, which was probably also the reason that Krista kissed him goodbye on the cheek in the end. The look on his friend's face was just adorable as he let this little information slip.

As Eren tried imagining what Armin might look like when he is kissing someone, he bumped into the corner of some table, noticing that he'd spaced out a little too much. Refraining from rubbing his hip bone, Eren refocused on the present. Levi still hadn't moved an inch, but he was no longer looking at him. As Eren started to worry that he had screwed up before it even started, he heard Levi say: "Sit down in the armchair."

Following his instructions, he walked over to the brown leather-clad piece of furniture and sat down.

Levi was now the one on his feet, and Eren could feel his full body flushing as the man came closer to him, step after step and with the suppleness of a black panther before stopping right next to his toes. Even those metal eyes reminded him of a predatory cat as they looked down on him. "You sure, you want this?"

Oh God, Eren didn't know anymore if he was seriously ready for this. Hell, by the way those eyes were piercing him, he wasn't even sure if he was going to live this through.

Unable to say a single word thanks to the big knot in his throat, he nodded his head.

"Alright," he heard Levi say before he felt a pair of cold digits running through his hair. They went down to his neckline, then along his jaw, leaving his skin tickling everywhere they touched, before Eren felt his chin being pushed up. As he felt Levi's soft lips caressing his own, he instantly melted under his touch. Their contact was so gentle, it gave him goosebumps along his spine despite the rising heat that was rushing throughout his body.

When the raven finally pushed his tongue into his mouth, the caresses of their lips soon turned into them licking and sucking at each other. Eren started panting, and when he pulled back to get some air into his lungs, Levi's lips traveled to his jawline and further down to the cradle of his neck.

He felt the raven's mouth closing over his erratic pulse, before he heard him giving another command. "Put your feet up."

Eren placed the soles of his feet on the cold leather, and suddenly felt way too exposed in this new position. He had almost forgotten how very naked he was under the robe he was wearing and now even its knot had become undone. His knees were up by his chest and the silken fabric fell around his sides, leaving his whole front uncovered. He was relieved that Levi wasn't openly staring at him, otherwise he would feel way too uncomfortable to stick with his plan. God, tonight it would finally happen.

Unsure where he had to put his hands, he reached around the other man's neck and placed his lips in the cradle of the shoulder in front of him. Eren shivered at the sensation he felt crawling through his stomach while pale digits blazed a trail along his chest. The moan he released vibrated along the other man's skin. Any remaining type of doubt was shattered when those fingertips encountered his nipple. Eren sucked in a breath, which caused a delicious suction along the other's neck and filled his mouth with the taste of that heavenly skin. He shuddered against those fingers before arching into the touch, no longer caring what the logical side of him said. All he knew was the moan that slipped him and the sudden rolling of his hips. A hand grabbed his chin, pulling him from the location on the raven's neck to glue their lips together. Eren was choking from the lack of air or the feeling of those digits blazing trails across his pecs, he wasn't sure. He didn't care. He couldn't breathe because of Levi, and that was all that mattered to accept the suffocation and continue to kiss him back. Eren released one of Levi's shoulders, placing the hand on the other man's still clothed chest and marvelled at how the muscles twitched underneath his palm. He hissed into the kiss when he went lower and one of his fingertips slipped underneath the hem of Levi's shirt. Feeling bare skin almost as hot as his own, he couldn't seem to catch his breath or get enough of him. His hands felt like fire, burning over every part he touched. He aimed even lower on Levi's body, but when his fingertips brushed over the button of the man's dark blue jeans, a hand grabbed him, stopping his action before he reached for his goal.

"Ahh..." The unexpected touch made Eren moan into the other's mouth, and continue to shiver against the other hand that was wreaking havoc on his body. If he thought last time had been arousing, he was completely out of his mind now. His body was pulsing in need, and Levi's smooth palms seemed to only edge on the flames. The grip on his hand loosened and Eren spread it along the other's stomach. Those abs were jerking as if Levi was restraining from thrusting his hips, and Eren could faintly feel the heavily beating heart just above his fingertips. He jerked back from Levi's mouth when he felt a sharp tweak on one of his nipples, but the only noise that left his parted lips was a grunt. He dipped his head backwards at the strong sensation fluttering over his skin.

"Tell me when to stop, brat." He heard the man above him say, throwing Eren a bit off before he captured his mouth again, bringing forth a weak groan when he nipped his lower lip. Fingers ran along the muscles of his stomach, making it extremely hard to focus on anything other than the burning sensation that was returning full force.

His skin seemed extra sensitive when those fingertips drippled along the expanse of his exposed abs. Eren convulsed into the touch, wanting to press harder against these digits.

Parting once more, he swallowed shakily, his lips seperated for no reason than to keep his airways open. He could feel his legs trembling, and he nearly saw white when the overly sensitive skin of his shaft was suddenly brushed. He felt pathetic at the cry he let out, his entire body jerking off of the chair. The touch was so soft, too soft, and his body was shamelessly seeking more. The pressure danced over his cock again, creating a slow stroking rhythm that had his spine nearly snapped in half. He huffed out heavy gasps of air, trying to cool his overheating body. But the stimulating strokes were only raising the temperature of his sweltering skin, starting to make his forehead sweat.

And when those sinful fingers finally closed all around his blistering hot skin, Eren shouted. Levi's hand was ruthless and skilled while it rolled his arousal through his fingers, coxing Eren's body to arch even higher than before. Nimble fingers swiped over the tip of his cock which leaked with pre-cum. Eren's mouth became worthless, and he wouldn't be able to tell him to stop even if he wanted to. Hell, he couldn't even tell him to keep going.

But all of a sudden, those sinfully good feelings got replaced. Eren's eyes flew open as one slippery fingertip encircled the tight ring of muscles below his balls, and his body tensed up as that tip pushed through it, entering him. He gasped and bit into Levi's shoulder to keep from yelling out as the finger got pulled out of him and was pushed back inside in one smooth motion. His body pulsed against the intrusion, his muscles drawing up tight and squeezing.

"Relax, Eren," the raven's voice purred into his ear as he pulled out of him once more. "And you will enjoy this."  
Eren bit back his retort, because he knew Levi was right. He knew, this was going to be part of it.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to force his body to relax, to be still. He tried to think of the lips against his pulse, of the other hand that kept stroking up and down his still halfway stiff member, trying to overwrite the strange feeling down below. When his body finally somehow accepted the weird feeling after a few more pushes and pulls, the pressure increased again and it seemed as if Levi was stretching him even wider than before. There were two fingers inside of him now, opening like scissors as they moved within him.

As much as Eren tried to relax and get used to it, the unpleasantly feeling wasn't fading. It didn't hurt, but it was far from feeling arousing.  
When he started worrying how much worse it might get until the final act, Levi added a third finger, slowly injecting them in and out. Caught between the divine touches on his dick and the uncomfortable and now even a bit painful ones below, he feared that the latter was gaining the upper hand. Just as Eren felt Levi driving his fingers all the way into him at a slightly higher tempo and stretching him to the point of tearing, another sensation joined in his confusion. _That… felt… good..._

"Faster," he breathed into the hot air.

A questioning sound made it back to his ears, so he whispered again: "Please… do that faster…"

He didn't need to ask again. Levi was picking up the speed of his thrusts as the hand on his member kept pace with the other one.

 _This feels different… oh God, this is better…_

Completely overwhelmed and unsure about what he should concentrate on, Eren started panting again, moaning against the man's skin as Levi's hand reignited the arousal that now rushed through his veins like blood. Eren swore when the blistering pleasure coiled with a feeling of pain and awkwardness. As the sensations became almost too much, Eren turned his head and ground his teeth together to keep from crying out loud. He felt Levi licking at his throat as he pumped his fingers in and out of his ass, hammering him deeper into the chair. His other hand continued gliding across his erection, pulling and rubbing against it. With every thrust of his fingers, he seemed to sink deeper into him, moving his finger around inside of him.

Any remaining focus, however, was lost when Levi's fingers hit one special spot inside him dead-on. Eren gasped, unprepared for the onslaught of physical and emotional pleasure. It was like a high, like some drug had enhanced the feeling of those slim digits slipping against his over-sensitive skin.

"Hah...n-no..." He couldn't stop the swelling that filled his stomach, barely teetering on the edge. He shook his head hard, as if somehow it would stop the winding inside of his stomach. But Levi didn't listen to his pleadings. He flicked his wrist fast enough to have Eren's heel dig into the rug, while his fingers kept thrusting mercilessly into his body and against that bundle of nerves and it drove him to heaven. His body stretched and Eren arched his hips completely off the chair. His breathing picked up, and he was getting dizzy from how hard he was tossing his head around. "I'm - aahh - comming!"

With a tightened stroke of his hand, Levi sent his careening over the edge. Eren's body thrashed as he came, eyes flying wide open as the pleasure smashed into him like a ram. The amplified feeling of being touched by someone else sent shocks throughout his body. His fingertips tingled with bliss while Levi continued to stroke him through the orgasm. It felt unreal, an intense ecstasy that ran through him, enhanced by the constant hammering against his prostate. After what seemed like an eternity, the high was fading and his ass slowly fell back against the leather, his body sweaty while cum rolled along either side of his thighs. His heavy breathing was the only sound filling his ears, and he felt too spent to lift a limb.

He moved his gaze to the ceiling, trying to refocus. By the time he got a hold of his racing heart and his numb mind, Eren rolled his head to the side to watch silently as Levi tugged his shirt back in his jeans. He ran one hand through his hair before looking back at him, almost glaring.

"What?", was all he said.

Eren wanted to answer with a counter question, but when he tried, his voice still wasn't back on call. He coughed slightly before giving it another shot.

"What are you doing?" he somehow managed as Levi headed for the bathroom.

Without stopping, he replied: "Getting ready for bed."

"But we haven't… you didn't..."

A moment later, the raven came back, a toothbrush between his lips. "Whwat?"

Eren couldn't help but find of the otherwise so stoic man standing in front of him with his toothbrush between his teeth somewhat adorable. Seeing him like this made him feel like he had pushed down another one of his barriers.

Meeting the other's eyes straight on, Eren said: "What about you?"

But instead of answering him, Levi went back into the bath, and Eren heard the sink's tap running. Coming back again, Levi walked up to him, offering a wet towel.

"No need to hurry. We've got plenty of time. Let's get to bed for now."

Feeling a very different kind of warmth spreading through his stomach than just mere moments ago, Eren took the towel, wondering what is was for before he noticed that he was still very naked and stained with his own cum.

He wiped himself clean, and when he looked up again, Levi was still standing there, this time offering him his hand.

Without hesitation, Eren gladly took it since he guessed he might be a bit wobbly on his feet.

He was right.

And the hand only helped so much as they guided him back into the chair when his legs denied him their services.

Looking up at Levi entirely helpless, Eren saw the other man sigh.

But then something unthinkable happened…

Levi _smirked_ at him.

A mouth-closed, one-sided, cardiac arrest-causing _smirk_.

"If that's all it takes for you to not be able to walk anymore, you're not going to survive me actually fucking you."

Eren's jaw dropped to the ground, and he sat there completely dumbfounded.

Before he knew what happened, he felt an arm sliding under his knees and another one behind his back. As he was pushed against Levi's chest and carried to the bed, Eren thought how easy it was to forget about his unnatural strength because of his height. But damn, if it wasn't sexy. Blushing like a princess and also feeling like one thanks to the robe hanging on his body like a gown, and even more so when Levi laid him on the cool sheets of his bed, Eren wondered if what Levi said was actually true. If they really would have enough time. He just hoped, they would.

When he felt the exhausting claiming his body, he closed his eyes and slipped under the covers. Even though it was already black behind his eyelids, Eren could still tell when Levi shut off the last light in the room. He felt the raven's body slide into the warmth of the sheets, and he wanted to curse at how easily his muscles relaxed. Like they were waiting for him or something. Sleep crept through him, but not quick enough for his mind to ignore the soft skin gliding along his hip to capture his body into a hold.

The only thing he did was sigh before completely succumbing to his slumber.


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

When Levi woke up the next morning, he couldn't believe that he'd actually been able to sleep halfway through the night. Not because he wasn't a light sleeper by definition. No. It was when Eren threw one leg around his hips that Levi assumed he wouldn't get much of a sleep. He could've just pushed him away, but he hadn't find the heart to do so. He waited until he would just toss in the other direction and the problem would solve itself. But Eren had other plans. A few minutes later, Eren slid his arm under Levi's neck and no sooner, took a death-grip on the man next to him until Levi found himself being held like by a boa constrictor. It didn't happen that often that he was being overwhelmed by the strength of another person, but damn, the brat was strong when he was sleeping. Despite the slight suffocation he endured due to the boy pressing his face into his chest, Levi decided against doing something about it. In fact, he kinda liked it. So much, he went back to sleep not long after.

Normally, the kid seemed so fragile, especially when he was in a bad mood. Yesterday on the contrary…

He did hear Eren when he asked him to go faster the first time. But he couldn't quite believe it. After all, it had been the kid's first time getting something like that done to him. He expected him wanting to go slow. Who would've guessed that hard and fast did the trick for him? And Levi hadn't been gentle by no means. Eren probably wouldn't be able to walk straight if he woke up, despite that all he had done was jerking the kid off.

Sitting in bed beside Eren's sleeping form, he looked down at the boy. He still couldn't believe that he was able to do those things to him… do those things with him... without losing himself and hurting him. A part of him wanted to see how far he could go, but… he knew he was playing with fire here. None of this was normal for him. And he wasn't a big fan of not knowing what came next. Predictability was one of the pillars of his life for a reason.

Next to him, Eren started to stir in his sleep and it didn't take the boy long to finally open his eyes.

"Morning, brat. Slept well?"

Eren closed his eyes again and snuggled a bit closer. When he clung to Levi's form, he looked way too delicious with his hair being a mess and the sheets only partly covering his still naked body. Levi decided to dodge the possibility of getting stupid ideas and slid away from the boy, standing up. Pulling on a pair of nylon warm-ups, he asked over his shoulder: "You want food? I'm going to make a kitchen trip."

When he kid didn't answer right away, Levi turned around. Eren's eyes blissed out. "You're actually going to bring it up here? As in, I don't have to move?"

Levi couldn't help but smile at that. "You're going to owe me, but yeah, I'm willing to deliver."

With his face turned into an honest-to-the-bone expression, the boy said: "You are a god."

Trying to ignore the sensation that began to spread inside his chest, Levi glided into a pair of slippers. "What do you want?"

Eren turned onto his back, and crossed his hand behind his head, exposing his body fully to Levi's stare. "Whatever's in the kitchen. Hell, make yourself really useful and drag that fridge on up here. I'm starved."

Levi walked out the door, keeping watch if anyone was close by and able to see Eren in his birth suit. Luckily the mansion was still very quiet. It was still Sunday morning. Levi walked along the hallway and down the staircase, heading for the kitchen.

As he fished some tomatoes and mozzarella cheese from the fridge and knife and cutting board from the counter, putting everything together with some slices of black bread, he thought about what he said to Eren before carrying him to his bed.

They'd have time.

Was that really the truth? Admittedly, it didn't seem like his target was in a hurry. It had been almost three months, and everyone included thought that the man would've made a move by now. Instead? Nothing.

But more importantly… why did he even say that? Was it to curb Eren's eagerness? To make him feel at ease? Or because he himself actually wished for it?

He sprinkled some olive oil on top of the sliced tomatoes, remembering the way his chest clung at Eren's words just a moment ago.

No, he wasn't falling developing feelings. Because that'd be insane.

All that was happening here was him giving in to curiosity because with Eren he could do things that never had been imaginable for him before. Yeah, that was it.

Grabbing the two plates after squeezing a bottle of orange juice under his arm, Levi went up again. Because of the lack of free hands, he softly knocked the edge of one of the plates against the door and waited for Eren to open him.

As the door swung open and Eren stood in front of him, a bit unsteady on his legs in fact, the boy's eyes grew huge. "Wow, that looks amazing! Is this the smoked mozzarella Maria bought a few days ago? Man, I can't wait to try it! I wanted..."

Continuing to chatter about whatever crossed his mind at the moment, Eren let him pass before closing the door and following him to the table next the window. He told him about Armin's date, how Mikasa gave him the exact same advice as Levi did when he was training with his nunchucks, and that he totally had to look into this one biology topic he was going through with his teacher for a second time. At some point, Levi stopped paying attention to what he was saying and just listened on the sound of his voice.

 _Curiosity. That's it._

* * *

As dawn fell Eren was underground in the gym, a dagger in his right hand, his feet planted in the ready position. When Levi whistled through his teeth, Eren began to move through the exercise: swipe the weapon across the chest, slice back at an angle, step forward, and stab up under the rib cage.

"Eren, stay sharp!" Shit, he was fucking this whole thing up. Again. Feeling utterly blind and mostly useless, he tried to ﬁnd the rhythm in the positions, but his balance was in the crapper and his arms and legs just wouldn't behave.

"Eren- stop." Levi came up behind him and moved his arms around. Again. "Back in ready position." Eren settled in, waited for the whistle . . . and screwed it all up. Again.

This time when Levi walked over, Eren couldn't look him in the face.

He felt Levi's eying stare on him. "Let's try something," The raven said, taking the blade and putting it in Eren's left hand.

Eren shook his head. "But I am right-dominant", he stated.

"Just give it a try. Go!" Another ready position. Another whistle. Another fuckup— oh, but wait. This time it wasn't. Miraculously, Eren's body fell into the series of positions like a perfect piano chord.

He couldn't believe it, but everything was in sync. All his arms and legs going where they needed to be, the dagger controlled perfectly in his palm, his muscles coalescing and working together.

When the drill was over, he smiled. Until he met Levi's eyes. The man was staring at him strangely but then seemed to catch himself. "Better, Eren. Much better."

Eren looked down at the blade in his hand. "But how is that possible? I do everything with my right hand."

Levi walked up to him. "It happens from time to time. Some people are stronger doing certain things with their non-dominant hand, which can be quite a blessing when it comes to combat. It makes you less predictable. Most people are right-handed and therefore have a tendency for adapting to also right-handed opponents in battle. You can take advantage of that by attacking from their weak side."

While he circled him once again, he kept on talking. "Next time we practise hand-to-hand combat, we'll see how you do when we shift your movements to the left side. First, we continue with the dagger. Again!" Levi called out.

Eren did the sequence twenty-three more times. Then worked on another that had him getting down on one knee and lunging upward. Levi patrolled every move, barking out demands.

He didn't have to fix Eren's position once more. Everything just came together, the vein tapped, the gold extracted.

When the lesson was over Eren headed for his bag, but Levi called him back, led him into the equipment room and over to the locked closet where the training weapons were kept.

"From now on you'll use this." He handed over one with a blue hilt. "Calibrated for the left hand. I'll do some calls to get you new guns and weapons as well."

Eren tried it out, running through some moves, and felt even stronger. He couldn't believe the solution was this simple. He so had to show Mikasa his progresses once he'd be sure today wasn't just dumb luck.

After thanking Levi for his instruction, as he had become accustomed to in the meantime, he ran upstairs to take a shower. There wasn't much time left before he had to go down to dinner and after that he had to go to Armin's room. Since the next semester was closing in and Armin had to go back to his grandfather soon, he wouldn't stay at Eren's for much longer. Therefore, he wanted to spend as much time with his friend as possible. His sister would come, too. But before that, he urgently wanted to do something else. His guitar had been throwing him reproachful looks for days now, because he never got to play it at all. He hadn't worked on his song for weeks either. If he didn't use the time until dinner, he probably wouldn't be able to do so until next weekend. He'd probably spend the night at Levi's room again, not that he was complaining, and since tomorrow was Monday, his school lessons would continued.

He made quick work of washing himself and hurried into his studio. When he grabbed his Gibson, he noticed that he had never shown Levi this room. All the time they spent together, they had been at Levi's, but never in Eren's room. He would like to show him his studio. After all, all his gems were gathered here. Who knew, maybe at some point he'd even play him the song he was writing. If he should manage to finally come up with a theme that he could sing about.

As he played the chords a few times to get into the groove, Levi's face didn't stop entering his mind. Man, he was really crushing hard.

He thought about all the things he'd like to do with the man with the hard eyes. The man who can grow soft sometimes. The one who he'd like…

Like lightning crashing from every cloud, Eren suddenly knew what his song should be about. Immediately he jumped up, digged for his notes and wrote down the lines that gushed out of him like spring water. When he finished, he looked at what his mind came up with. At first it didn't make much of a sense, but after some reconstruction it quickly became a bunch of somewhat reasonable lyrics. Yeah, that he could work with.

Looking at the clock on his wall, he saw that he had to stop here for now. Otherwise, he'd miss dinner and his stomach already told him how much this wasn't an option. He put his guitar back in it's stand and run out of his studio.

* * *

At evening, Levi sat with all three kids in the large dining hall, and just finished his filet mignon. Grisha wasn't with them, seemingly because he had more important things to do.

"All of us are going to finish the day off in Armin's room," Eren said abruptly. "Would you like to join us, Levi?"

Armin snorted from across the table. "You're not going to make us play Monopoly again, are you?"

"Yup." A collective groan rose up from him and the girl, one that Eren ignored. "Right after dinner."

Levi thought about it for a moment. "I've something I have to do," he said. "But I can come along after that."

"Sweet!" Eren exclaimed. "But you can't be the shoe or the dog then. They always go first."

"I can live with that."

Maria came in with a massive baked Alaska. "Dessert, perhaps?" the maid said with a smile.

As an universal "Yes, please," filled the room, Levi folded his napkin and excused himself.

If he was going to join Eren and his friends to hang out, he had to take care of himself first. Ever since this morning, his body felt like a stranger to him. He couldn't pin down exactly what it was, but he was livid, slightly irritated and absent at the same time. His body was tingling in different places at different times and it felt like his strength was dwindling.

He had the sense that a part of him had become unhinged, that some inner escape hatch was hanging open and segments of him were ﬂeeing the core.

And if the time he had spent on this earth taught him one thing, it was that such changes were dangerous for him. He was hoping that an extra dose of Hange's supply packs could bring calm back to his body.

Shrugging from his clothes, Levi picked one of the blood packs from his duffle bag and laid down under his bed sheets. He took his hand and put it on his pec, feeling his lungs expanding and contracting and his heart beating hard. With a wince he moved his palm downward heading for that throb that was literally talking to him it was so loud. Man, the damn thing was craving sensation, desperate to boil over. His balls were so tight he felt like they were about to crack open from the pressure. He so had to do this, and not just to stay a functioning part of society. The need to finally give his body what it asked for and enter Eren in the ways he craved was past the ache stage and into ﬂat-out pain.

His hand hit his belly and he pushed it farther down.

His skin was warm and smooth and stretched over hard muscle and heavy bone.

He stopped just before he touched himself. Then, with a curse, he grabbed the thing and pulled it. A moan rumbled out of his chest and leaped from his mouth as his erection kicked in his hand. He repeated the slow tugging motion, sweat breaking out across his chest. He felt like someone had put him under a heat lamp - no, it was more like warmth was radiating from inside of him. He arched while he stroked himself, the feeling of guilt present at every move he made.

Settling into a rhythm, he shoved the covers off with his foot and looked down his body. Before his eyes he saw Eren mounting him fully naked, his deep green eyes glowing, positively aﬁre in the darkness. In his mind he rose up to kiss his mouth, then angled himself so as Eren sat down he hit his body just right.

0h, fuck. Faster. Faster With his hand. A little clicking noise rose up inside the room, the result of the clear, slippery lubricant that came out of the tip, getting on his palm.

The stuff ran down the shaft, making his erection glisten.

0h... fuck.

He eased down on his back as Eren was riding him, his erection jumping up and down with every time he took Levi fully into his body.

Levi's hand moved at blurring speed now, his cock hard as marble, his mind ﬁlled with the idea of being inside that boy.

Critical overload hit when he pictured him settling into a squatting position, his knees bent, his upper body leaning forward, full weight resting on Levi's chest through the hands he placed there. He saw his face moving closer, his hot breath ghosting over his lips, his moaning filling his ears, and those hips sinfully erotic pumping down from the twitching tip to the very base of his cock— Fuck!

Levi ﬂipped over onto his side, the pillow getting knocked to the ﬂoor, his knees coming up. His fangs pierced the package in his other hand, and as the liquid hit his tongue and throat, he jerked around, warm jets going everywhere, landing on his chest and the tops of his thighs and getting on his hand. He kept stroking, eyes nailed shut, veins popping out at his neck, lungs burning.

When there was nothing left in him or the blood pack as well, Levi swallowed hard, caught his breath, and opened his eyes. He wasn't sure, but he thought he'd come twice. Maybe three times.

Crap. The sheets. He'd made a mess again.

As he listened into his body, he realised that this wasn't his biggest problem.

Feeling rip shit pissed, he noticed that the humming was still very present. Shit! He'd hoped it would have taken the edge off of him, but no, he was still bladed as fuck.

He should probably stay on his own tonight, at least until this unfamiliar sensation would leave him.

But then the imagine of the kid's disappointed face entered his mind.

Cursing himself and the brat as well, Levi got on his feet, pulled off the sheets and on the way to the bathroom he threw the them in a plastic bag, he'd put in one of his dresser's drawers in the meantime. It was easier to clean them himself than plugging them into the flute and dealing with questions. But now he didn't had the time.

After a quick shower, he got dressed again and left his room.

On his way down the hall he heard Eren swearing out in behind the door to Armin's, a rolling, under-the-breath litany marked by a lot of f-words and an interesting twist on a-hole Levi was going to have to remember. As he entered, all three kids were sitting on the ground, a huge board lying between them. Mikasa was already out of the game, and it looked like Eren was going to be next.

When Eren noticed him coming in, he yelled: "Yes, Levi! Armin, we have to start over, our last guest has just arrived."

"You lose to me like a man, Yeager, or I will never ever help you with your stupid science homework again!" Armin exclaimed.

"I somehow manage on my own if you're not here as well, so I'll take the risk!" the brat bit back.

Despite their back and forth arguing, the two of them finished their game until Eren lose for good. In the meantime, Levi made himself at home in one of the armchairs that stood in the room and ordered a cup of tea from Maria as she passed by.

Afterwards when Eren failed to encourage Levi to participate in a second game and the brat and his blond friend rushed off, leaving him with the silent girl alone and creating some moments of positively awkward silence, they came back with both hands full of things Levi couldn't make any sense of. But fortunately for him, the sight of the two made the girl disappear with a sigh. Taking a sip of his tea, he eyed the sixteen cans of Aqua Net that were lined up on the coffee table next to him. "What's doing with the hair spray? You boys going drag now?"

Eren held up the length of a PVC pipe he was punching a hole in with a kitchen knife. "Potato launcher, Levi. Big fun."

Levi felt how his eyebrows struggled to decide between a surprised pull up and a sceptical drop down. "Excuse me?"

"Didn't you ever go to summer camp?"

"Baskets weaving and woodcarving are for sissies. No offense, but I had better thing to learn when I was your age."  
"Ha! You haven't lived until you've gone on a midnight pantry raid", the kid said, pointing the knife in his direction with a smug smile. "Anyway, you put the potato in this end, you fill up the bottom with spray-"  
"And then you light it," Armin cut in from the bathroom. He came out in his pajamas, rubbing a towel on his wet face. "Makes a great noise."  
"Great noise," Eren echoed.

Levi looked at the blonde. "You've done this before? I thought, you were the little shy guy around here?"

"Last summer, we tried, but the launcher jammed up", Armin replied, while Eren cursed and added: "Potato was too big. Damn Idaho bakers. We're leading with red skins tonight. It's going to be great. Of course, trajectory can be a bitch-"

"But it's really just like golf," Armin said, dropping the towel across the other chair. "I mean, you gotta think of your arc in the air-"

Eren nodded up a storm. "Yeah, it's just like golf. Wind plays a big role-"

"Huge."

Levi drank along as they finished each other's sentences for another couple minutes. After a while he felt compelled to mention: "The two of you are spending way too much time together, you feel me? You're like an old married couple."

Eren shook his head at his friend. "He has no appreciation for this kind of thing. Probably never had."

"Then we aim for his room", the blonde grinned.

"Good idea. And it faces the garden-"

"So we don't have to work around the cars in the front courtyard. Excellent."

* * *

A couple of hours later and deep into the night, Levi leaned back into the sofa in Grisha's pansy-ass study and crossed his legs at the knee. The meeting with Erwin was the first they'd had since Levi came to this place, and so far everything had been stilled. Then again, there was a big frickin pink elephant in the room that hadn't been addressed yet.

"So, our target doesn't show up as fast as we thought," Erwin said.

"Seems so."

"The question at hand is whether it makes sense to let you stay here when we know for sure he isn't within land borders."

"The question I'm more concerned about it why you assigned me this job in the first place, Erwin. You still won't tell me anything, will you?"

The blonde walked from the room's centre to the huge window. "Things haven't changed. There's still no benefit in you knowing the identity of your target since you don't have to hunt him. All you have to do is prevent the worst from happening when he finally makes a move."

Levi was about to ask what would happen if he'd never show up. But for some reason, he didn't want to hear his boss' answer.

"I am thinking of pulling you off this job as long as we are certain, that man isn't around. I received a bunch of job offers for you in the meantime and frankly said, I think you being in this house nonstop isn't doing you any good."

"What are you talking about?"

"The boy, Levi. I don't care for what the two of you are doing behind closed doors, but it's clear as day that the shackles you put on yourself weaken you. You're even paler than usual."

"That's bullshit, Erwin, I'm fine. On the contrary as a matter of fact, the blood packages are finally working and-"

"Are they really? I've known you for decades, Levi, I raised you to who you are today. Don't think you can hide those things from me. You're tiptoeing on the edge of your self-control, I mean, look at you. You're tapping your fingers and I bet you didn't even notice."

Cursing under his breath, Levi flinched his hand out of the blonde's sight.

"See? You're better off getting away from here for the time when you're not needed, and taking care of your affairs instead."

Erwin was right, of course. He always was. His judgement was impeccable, which was the reason Levi never left his side over all those years. Nonetheless, at times like these it drove him nuts.

"But what if the son of a bitch steps on stage from out of nowhere and I am not here? Where's the point of the last few months in the first place if I tear down my tents now?"

"I've got my eyes on him, Levi. I know exactly where he is and he won't get away without me noticing."

"But-"

"He is a six hours flight away, Levi. He won't be teleporting here. There's no need for you to stay in this house at this moment."

God, how he hated arguing with that bastard. Mostly because he always knew from the beginning that he would lose. But the truth was, he didn't want to leave. The idea of leaving Eren behind without any kind of protection was setting his guts of fire. And naturally, no other protection that could be given to the boy met his standards. None but his own.

Levi thought about what fucking little detail he could come around the corner with to change Mr. Eyebrows' mind.

Only problem was, there was none. He was utterly out of arguments to stay where he was… well, arguments that didn't include an admission on his part that he wanted to stay here for personal reasons. Hell, he wouldn't admit it to himself.

"Fine." As Erwin's voice sounded right next to him, Levi did his best to hide his surprise. Seriously, no one but him could sneak up on him, and sometimes it creeped even him out. Not that he'd show it to him. He learned long before they met that showing emotion was a knife waiting behind your back to stab you when you least expected it.

He slowly turned his head to the other man.

"You stay here. But on one condition," the blonde said, towering over him with an unreadable expression on his face. Levi wasn't sure why he changed his mind so quickly when a few seconds ago it looked as if his withdrawal was a done deal. But he knew better than pushing.

"You'll go out and take care of that bloodlust of yours. As soon as possible. I will inform Grisha of everything he needs to know and I will know if you don't obey my order. You've got three days. I can't have you ripping my client's kid's throat out."

"I'd never-"

"I know you don't want that. But you know what happens if you're abstinent for too long. We've been through this. Consider it a service to your environment if that makes it any easier for you."

Before Levi could get another saying in this conversation, Erwin was already heading for the door.

"I'll inform Grisha about our future course of action," he said over his shoulder without turning around. As he walked through the door frame, he added something Levi could only understand thanks to his excellent hearing. "Sometimes you're too loyal for your own good."

Unsure what his boss meant by that, but feeling like shredding his brain wouldn't get him anywhere, he got to his feet again, and went for the door as well.


	22. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

Levi was not a happy camper as he sat on the dining table next evening, the whole household gathered. Grisha for once decided to keep his kids company, but that wasn't in any interest for Levi. All day long he'd been distracted, vaguely pissed off, achy as shit, and in desperate need to collect his marbles. He felt totally off-centre, like he had a heavy duffel bag hanging off one shoulder. And he felt _tired_. So tired he thought he could easily sleep through a whole month, if not more.

By the time they finished eating and were back upstairs in his room, Levi was having serious trouble concentrating. The hum was roaring in full force, worse than ever before. And he was totally aroused, his body so hot he felt like his blood was going to dry out in his veins.

As Eren went over to the bed and settled in, Levi took a quick shower and wondered if he shouldn't give his erection a short release before he came back out. The damn thing was hard, stiff, aching like a bitch, and the water rushing down his body made him think of Eren's hands on his skin. He palmed himself and remembered the feel of Eren moving against his fingers as he pleasured his entrance. He lasted, like, less than a minute.

When it was over, the empty orgasm just juiced him up more. It was like his body knew the real thing was out in the bedroom and had no intention of being diverted.

Cursing, he stepped out and toweled off, then headed for his closet.

* * *

Eren felt the bed wiggle as Levi rolled over.

Once again.

It had been thus for hours upon hours. After he and Levi went up to his room, Eren crashed into his bed almost instantly, so tired was he. But it wasn't long before he woke up again and noticed, Levi had gone to bed with him. He had not slept since that, and he was sure Levi hadn't, either. Unless he moved around a lot whilst in repose. Which would be new to him.

Levi let out a mumble and jerked around, his limbs thrashing. It was as if he couldn't get comfortable, and Eren worried that he was somehow disrupting him… although it was unclear how. He had stayed still ever since.

It was strange, though. He was comforted by his presence in spite of his restlessness. There was something easing about the knowledge that he was on the other side of the bed. He felt safe with him.

Levi lurched again, groaned and— Eren jumped when his hand landed on his arm.

As did Levi. With a low growl he made some kind of questioning sound in his throat, then ran his palm up and down, as if trying to ﬁgure out what was in his bed with him. So, he clearly wasn't awake after all.

Eren expected him to pull back. Despite the few times they actually made out in some way, Levi was still trying to keep the physical contact to a minimum.

Instead this time, he grabbed on.

Eren's lips parted in mild shock as Levi made a noise deep in his throat and waded through the sheets, his hand going from his arm to his waist. As if he'd passed some kind of test, Levi rolled against him, a thigh coming against his own, something hard pushing into his hip. Levi's hand started moving, and before Eren knew it the sheets were off his body.

Levi growled louder and pulled him ﬂush to his body such that the hard length now lay across his thighs. Eren gasped, but there was no time to react or think. Levi's lips found his throat and sucked on his skin, the draw causing Eren's body to heat up. He felt Levi's teeth scratching over his rushing pulse, and he wondered why they felt so pointy. Then Levi's hips began to move.

The forward and backward surging fogged his mind and made his own member swell and tingle, something dark and needy unfurling in his belly.

Without warning, both Levi's arms shot around him and he rolled him onto his back, his bangs falling down over his face. A thigh pushed between his legs, and Levi mounted him, that arch and retreat stroking what he knew was his sex against him. God, he felt huge atop of him, but Eren didn't feel trapped or scared. This was something he wanted.

Something he craved.

Tentatively he put his hands on his back. The muscles along his spine were tremendous, and they rippled with his movements under the satin of his robe. Levi growled anew when Eren touched him, as if he liked his hands on him, and just as he wanted to feel his bare skin, Levi lifted up and disrobed.

He then leaned to one side, took Eren's palm in his, and put it between their bodies. On himself.

They both gasped as the connection was made, and Eren had an instant of pure amazement at the heat and the hardness and the size of him… as well the softness of his skin… and the power that seemed to rest in his flesh. He gripped him in reﬂex as a bolt of ﬁre speared him.

Levi cried out and his hips pushed forward and what was in Eren's hand started to kick. Warm bursts shot out from somewhere and covered his belly.

* * *

Levi woke up on top of Eren, with his hand on his cock and an orgasm in full swing. He tried to stop his body, grappled to get a rein on the erotic currents thundering through him, but he couldn't stop the momentum, even as he was aware he was coming all over the other's body. The second the sensations passed he whipped back. And then everything got worse.

Then everything turned into a nightmare.

As the last shudder left his body and went onto Eren, at that moment when Levi was finally spent, his balance was thrown. His bloodlust surged forward in a wicked, consuming rush, as powerful as the lust had been.

Levi bared his teeths and went for his neck, for the vein deliciously close to the surface of his tan skin. His fangs were about to sink deep, his throat dry with thirst for him, his gut spasming with a starvation that cut to his soul, when he pulled himself up short, horrified by what he was about to do.

He pushed himself away from Eren, scrambling across the bed until he fell to the floor, landing on his ass.

"Levi!?" In alarm Eren started for him.

"No!"

The hunger for his blood was too strong, the instinct undeniable. If he got close…

Levi moaned in pain, trying to swallow, keeping his eyes shut. His throat was like sandpaper. Sweat broke out all over him in a sickening flush.

"What happened? What did I do?" he heard Eren yell into the darkness, his tone filled with panic.

Levi crawled backward, his body arching, his skin on fire. The smell of his own release on Eren's skin drifted over to him and it was like a whip against his self-control.

"Eren, leave me. I've got to…" Shit, his voice was shot.

But he sensed him still coming at him. Levi tried to get further away, his body slamming into a commode.

"Get the fuck back!" he hissed loudly. "You get any closer and I'm going to hurt you, got it?"

Eren stopped immediately, terror clouding the air between them.

"You wouldn't hurt me," he heard the brat say with a conviction that struck Levi as dangerously naive.

As he was about to answer, the next wave of pain ripped through his stomach, leaving him panting.

Jesus, what was happening to him?

"Please, leave me!" He heard the desperation echoing through own his voice, as tears started to swell in the corners of his eyes.

"I don't want to leave," the boy whispered.

His thighs shook, the muscles straining against the hold he'd clamped down on his body.

"You have to-." He choked up.

His mind and physical needs had declared war, had marched onto battlefield with swords drawn. And he knew which one was going to win if he didn't get away from him.

"Eren, please. It- it hurts. I don't know how long... I can hold myself back..."

The boy's sorrow rose up around him at his words, the acrid smell of mental pain cutting through, making Levi feel even more abhorrent than before.

He finally heard footsteps aiming for the door and as the hallway's light sliced through the darkness, he hid his face the best he could in his foetal posture.

He pulled his knees as close to his chest as he could, clamped his head between them and wrapped his arms around his shins. As he rocked himself back and forth, he tried to concentrate on the beat of his heart.

On the beat… on the beat… on the beat… on the beat...

Until he lost himself in it.

After some moments, he was able to breathe again.

After some more, the feeling returned in his hands and feet.

And when his mind finally accepted that there was no danger present, he unhinged himself, lying back on the ground.

A noise mingled in the silence of his head. A ticking sound. As he realised where it came from, he turned his head and looked at the clock on his night stand. It was six in the morning. It's… been hours since Eren left.  
He'd carried it too far. Erwin was right. He had to go out tomorrow night.

* * *

"You look like shit, Eren," his sister addressed him nonchalantly as they sat in the dining hall again. They were having breakfast, but this time it was just the two of them and Armin. His dad had, oh wonder, something better to do than eating with his children and Levi.. yeah, Eren wasn't surprised when he didn't show up this morning.

"Thanks Mika, you say the sweetest things."

He didn't care what he looked like. He had to know what happened back there at night. Fuck, Levi had been desperate. Whatever he did, it must've triggered something traumatizing. He didn't see his face in the dark, but his voice had been… terrified. He who was invincible. To think that there was something that could get a man like him in such a state was rather frightening. But more important was how in the world he could possibly help him. Whatever it was, he had something to do with it. That much was obvious. And he never wanted to see Levi like that again. The only problem was… he didn't know a thing about Levi. Despite the time they spent together, they never spoke about his past or… about him at all. And Eren seriously doubted that Levi would just come out with the language if he'd asked him now. He couldn't just ask someone else either. If it was something that got so under Levi's skin, the thought of it alone felt wrong.

He basically was out of options.

Without paying much attention to the conversation of Armin and his sister, he gulped down his breakfast, ignoring his gag reflex, and headed for his room. Since he didn't know what else to do, he focused on listening if he could hear any sounds coming from the room next door. After some time, he heard a creaking noise, followed by footsteps heading down the hallway. He waited for a few seconds and took after him. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he opened his door and looked around the wooden frame. He saw Levi walking down the stairway's upper steps. As he was out of his vision, he hurried down the hall on silent feet. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but he somehow hoped that watching Levi would give him a clue on how to help him.

He continued his secret mission, and followed Levi everywhere he went. From the kitchen back to his room, and later into the library. Every time he saw Levi's face, Eren had the impression that he was getting a little bit paler. He was uncharacteristically trembly and clumsy, all of his usual grace gone. When Levi was about leave the library again, Eren still hot on his tracks, all of a sudden he saw the raven catching his foot on an uneven bit of the pinewood ground and… he just pitched forward. Bonelessly. Without thinking, Eren no longer flopped silently over the Persian carpet, but shot in the direction of the falling man. When he saw Levi making no effort to recover or even break his fall, a scream echoed from the walls. He hit the ground like a ton of bricks. He was probably out before he connected.

* * *

A few hours later, Eren was standing in his house's kitchen, a book in his hands. He stared at the cover where bright colored dishes shine, elaborate and delicious, just as his mother's voice ringed through his head.

"You have to eat properly, darling," she'd said to him. "And since Maria won't always be there to feet you, you need to learn how to cook. Here's my mom's cookbook. It's pretty easy to follow, there's no way you can fail!" She'd assured him with a big smile on her face. Since he'd only been five when she handed him his grandma's records, the book had been sitting on a shelve in his room for over ten years.

Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to see if his mother had been right. Eren opened the book and flipped through the pages, looking for something that looked easy enough so that even he can cook it.

After Levi passed out, and a huge commotion went across the mansion's halls, someone had the presence of mind to call Hange over. She checked on Levi, and it didn't take her long to determine simple circulatory failure as the cause for his fall.

Although it was hard for Eren to believe it, he was relieved. She told him, Levi had to rest and eat as soon as he'd wake up again.

So Eren decided to take care of it himself, despite Maria fussing over him cooking on his own.

When he finally found something attractive enough, judging by the shiny photographs that adorns the pages, he thought, _well, I might as well give it a shot_.

Pasta carbonara. Looked easy enough. Something fatty and savoury, exactly like Hange advised him.

He started boiling water, and took some eggs, thick cut bacon and pecorino romano cheese from the fridge. Following the steps of his grandma's recipe, he salted the water, threw in a handful of whole wheat spaghetti and started chopping the bacon into little cubes. In a large saucepan, he cooked the bacon over medium heat until crisp, drained the fat, and reserved two tablespoons of the grease. In a mixing bowl, he whisked together egg yolks, whole eggs, and one cup of the cheese. He tossed the drained pasta with cooked bacon, and two tablespoons of bacon grease back into the pan before he added his egg mixture, along with a bit of reserved pasta water and swirled it together with the pasta for about two minutes. At the end he served everything on a plate, and topped it with some of the remaining cheese, freshly ground pepper, olive oil and basil to garnish.

Not bad. It looked almost as the picture. Maybe he should do this more often.

He put the plate, cutlery and a napkin on a tray as well as some freshly brewed black tea. He wasn't sure if tea was the best choice to serve with pasta, but it sure would help Levi get back on his feet.

As Eren walked up to the first floor, he argued with himself whether making an attempt on asking Levi about the reason for his behavior was a wise decision.

He walked through the door, and found said man leaning halfway up against the bed cushions.

"You're awake, that's good. How do you feel?"

The raven stayed silent, but Eren was a bit too agitated to wait for him to come out of his shell. He walked towards the bed and put the tray on Levi's lap. "Here's some food, I hope you'll like it. Hange told me something savoury might be best, so I decided on carbonara. It's a recipe from my grandma-"

He realised he was babbling again, so he stopped walking. "Anyway, here it is."

Eren felt like leaving since Levi still didn't say a single word, but when he turned around to head for the door, a hand grabbed him by his arm.

"Stay."

 _His fingers are frosty._ "You sure?"

When he didn't get an answer, he turned back and saw Levi nod. There was no way to tell what he was thinking when he looked at him.

"Alright."

Eren went around the bed, sat down in the armchair and watched Levi chewing on his food. When he had eaten half of it, he put the cutlery back on the tray, placed it next to him on the bed and looked up at Eren, his eyes soft. "Thank you, Eren."

"Y-... you're welcome." Damn him, even looking entirely spent he got him all flustered.

After an awkward moment of silence Eren said. "You should ﬁnish that food."

"I'm done."

"No, you're not." He nodded at the plate. "Go on."

"Not hungry."

Eren stood up from his chair. "I didn't ask if you were hungry. Hange told me to make sure you eat enough when you wake up. And don't think I won't plug your nose and shovel it in if I have to."

There was a short pause and then he… Jesus…

Levi smiled at him. His mouth lifted at both corners, his eyes crinkling.

Eren's breath stopped in his throat.

He was so beautiful like that, he thought. With the dim light of the lamp falling on his hard jaw and his glossy black hair. He looked so much more... human. Approachable.

Eren felt his cheeks heating up. "What's up with the ﬂashy grin? You think I'm joking about the food?"

Levi's eyes stayed on him as he said: "No, it's just… there aren't many people who talk to me like that."

Eren started fumbling on the hem of his sleeves. "Well, I do. You have a problem with it? If not, eat or I feed you like a baby, and I can't imagine your ego would get off on that." That little smile was still settled on his face as Levi put the plate back on his lap and made slow, steady work of the rest. When he was done, Eren went over and picked up the glass of water he'd drained to get him a refill.

"I need to be alone for a minute. I'll come visit you in your room later," Levi said as he came back in.

* * *

After Eren left, Levi kept lying on his bed. Shit, what was going on with him? First his breakdown in the night, and now, not ten hours later he loses consciousness.

He picked his cell phone from the night stand and dialed Erwin's number.

"You finally admit I was right?" the blonde answered the phone.

"This is not how it works. I just fed," Levi said, his voice even sounding weak in his own ears. And yes, he had been feeding, on a daily basis as a matter of fact which was more than he ever did, and even if the blood was only half consistent, it had been working, hadn't it? Why not now all of a sudden? "It's not supposed to come back again-"

"Supposed to in one hand, shit in the other, see what you get the most," sounded from the other end of the line. "You're in a bad space, Levi, and you know what you have to do to get out of it, true?"

He'd been aware that this method could only be an interim solution, but really hoped, it would last longer when it suddenly worked out.

There was no way around it, he had to go into town.

"Well, what do you say?"

"Fuck," came the reply.

"Appropriate choice of words, my friend, but not really an answer."

Levi gritted his teeth. "Send me a car by eleven."

"Done. You'll see, this is the right decision."

He thought about the brat and looked down on the leftovers of the food he'd prepared for him. All by himself, with his own two hands.

 _Then does it feel so wrong?_ , he wondered.

* * *

A few hours later, Levi walked across the entrance hall, measuring the light in the sky from through the windows. Man, he was twitchy as shit.

Even though there must be upward to fifty rooms to wander around, the fact that he was going to to have to stay put until sundown made the mansion feel like a shoe box. But the difficult part was just around the corner.

He strode along the Persian carpet, and when he finally reached his destination, he carefully knocked on the door.

"Come in," he heard a voice from within.

Stepping in, he saw Eren sitting at his desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper, before he turned to him. "Hey, how're you? Feeling any better?"

"I have to go out tonight, Eren." He cut right to the chase, guilt clinging on every single word. "There won't be a replacement this time, since our target isn't within land borders."

The boy's joyful expression transformed into deep worry. Almost as if he knew what Levi was about to do. "Why do you have to go out again?"

"That doesn't concern you-"

"The hell, it does!" Eren suddenly yelled at him. "You fucking blacked out this morning, I had to carry you to your bed! Not just that, what about last night? What the fuck was that? I mean, shit damn, I'm worried about you, Levi! You can't keep me at a distance forever and just disappear or send me away when it gets too heavy for you to bear it. Please, let me help you."

Levi watched the kid's eyes turn from furious to hurt in a matter of seconds. Although he didn't want to see any of these emotions in those huge emerald orbs, he couldn't understand why his announcement upset the boy so much.

He wanted to sooth him, he really wanted to. But boy, he was so bad at this stuff, and his own incompetence angered him. So, all his brain did come up with as a response, was: "How about you get off my dick?"

 _Great. Well done!_

He was about to turn around and end the conversation before he could make it any worse, when all at once a hand grabbed his own and pulled him in the opposite direction. He swayed around and fell directly into the arms of the boy who pulled him into a firm embrace.

"Please, Levi. Let me help you," the sound of his hurt ringed right next to his ear.

Completely overwhelmed and feeling panic rising to the surface as the smell of the kid surrounded him and seemed to slip into each cell of his nostrils, Levi broke away from the contact, away from the embrace. No longer able to keep his own frustration inside him or at least steer it in the right direction, he slammed Eren against the wall to his left, snarling: "Don't you EVER try to get inside my head, you hear me!?"

For several moments they stayed there, eyes locked, hearts racing, his grip crushing Eren's wrists. When his wrath finally ebbed away, Levi's eyes softened and filled with remorse. "It is too dark for you, Eren."


	23. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

As he shut the car door, his body was humming, his skin prickling, his muscles twitching. He stretched out his arms, trying to buy himself a little relief. He wasn't surprised when it made no difference. His curse was throwing its weight around, taking him into dangerous territory. If he didn't get some kind of release soon, he was going to have a serious problem. Hell, he was going to be a serious problem.

He walked down the more shadier parts of town. Looking left and right, his laser-sharp eyes penetrating the darkness. As he scanned the night, he listened for any sounds worthy of notice.

The wind blowing from the west carried the fruity decay of trash.

He passed a woman deep throating some guy in the shadows, a bum who'd collapsed in a stupor, a drug dealer arguing on a cell phone about the going price for crack.

Levi knew the moment he was followed. Just not who it was. A robber, a junkie, another hitman. He didn't care either way. He allowed himself to smile widely, opened his jacket, and took out one of his hunter knives. It's handle felt comfortable in his palm. Three ounces of death ready to hit the airwaves. With the weapon in his hand, Levi didn't change his stride, even through he wanted to rush deeper into the shadows. He was starving for a fight, and the sucker behind him had perfect fucking timing. As he drew the other man into the dense darkness, Levi's body primed for the fight, his heart pumping steadily, the muscles in his arms and thighs twitching in anticipation. His ears picked up the sound of a gun being cocked, and he triangulated the weapon's aim. It was pointed at the back of his head. In a fluid motion, he wheeled around just as the bullet exploded out of the muzzle. He ducked and threw the knife, which flashed and twirled in a deadly arc. It caught the man right in the neck, splitting his throat open before continuing on its path into the darkness. The gun dropped to the ground, clattering across the asphalt, as the man grabbed his neck with both hands and fell to his knees. Levi was a bit disappointed the fight hadn't lasted longer, but what really worked his ass was that the cocksucker had the nerve to spill all of his life juices down the gutters before Levi had the chance to suck him dry.

Deciding that it wasn't worth it to lose his cool, that he had time, he stepped in front of the man and draw another piece of gun. Composite metal, diamond hard, beautifully made by hand. No identifying manufacturer. It was your standard nine-millimeter Beretta, model 92G-SD. Real good cared for, and naturally the serial number had been etched off. He placed the muzzle on the man's forehead and pulled the trigger, the duffle swallowing up the sound. He fell like over like sandsack.

Returning to the main street, he aimed for his next goal. It was typical of 1960s-era muni-architecture. Two stories, rabling, modern for its time, with plenty of pale grey cement and lots of narrow windows. It was aging with no grace whatsoever. Black streaks ran down its flanks as if it were bleeding from a wound in the roof, and the inside looked terminal as well. Nothing but nasty, chalky green linoleum, fake-wood-paneled walls, and chipped brown trim. After fifty years of cleaning, the heartiest of dirt had moved into every crack and fissure, and the grime wasn't coming out without a spray gun or some toothbrush action. As intriguing as it was, the building's basement was what he came here for.

Levi stepped inside the club and looked around, taking in the teeming, half-naked bodies on the dance floor. It was packed tonight, full of women wearing leather and men who looked like they had advanced degrees in violent crime. Levi fit right in. Except he actually was a killer.

He spoke to one of the bartenders and took place in one of the booths. A woman wearing a mircromini, thigh-high boots, and a bustier made of white leather strips trolled by him.

"What if I told you I had a fantasy?" Her eyes glittered from behind two pounds of mascara, and she worked her walk as if her hips were double-jointed. Against the backdrop of the VIP area, she was something else, a cross between Barbie and Barbarella. Her breasts were perfect, the very best money could buy. And her smile was radiant, a promise of acts done with knee pads. It was hard to know if she was one of the club's professionals or not. She planted her hands on the tabletop and leaned in toward him. "Well, daddy?" she said over the trippy techno music. "Want to make it come true?"

Her eyes, predatory and hot, glided over him. Sure as hell, she was going to make someone very happy tonight. Probably a busload of someones. But he wasn't going to be riding that double-decker. As far as he was concerned, she put the itch in bitch.

"Sorry, you need to go taste the rainbow somewhere else." Her total lack of reaction sealed the deal on her professional status. With a vacant smile, she ﬂoated over to the next table and pulled the same lean and gleam. No, she wasn't the kind of prey he was after tonight.

 _Funny_ , Eren thought as he leaned against the wall he was hiding behind. _The second time, it's not such a big deal anymore._

When he heard a muffled noise, something like a 'plong', he peeked around the corner and saw Levi coming out of the small alleyway he had just turned into. Always maintaining a generous distance not to be discovered, he followed Levi from street to street. He was aware that he wasn't doing himself any favor with what he was doing right now, but he just had to have certainty. The mere thought that Levi would cheat on him blinded him with rage and frustration. Yeah, technically they didn't have sex, but that made it even harder for Eren to understand Levi's actions. He was offering himself on a silver plate, and to be refused like that just down right hurt.

As he lurked around the corner, he saw Levi at the end of the street, entering some building.

After a few minutes, he followed and took a look in one of the house's windows. There wasn't much to see though. Nothing but a dark and empty and pretty nasty inside of a run-down condo. Eren moved to the front door and cracked it slightly open. He still didn't see anything, but the muted sound of bass beats drifted to his ears. He followed those noises until he got to some stairs leading to the basement. The sounds grew louder and as Eren opened to the at the bottom, he absently realised that it must've been a soundproof door. The basses flooded his ears on a volume level he almost had to cover his ears.

He was standing at the entrance to a gigantic room filled with masses of people and laser lights, the odour of alcohol and perfume overwriting dominating the space.

Eren put one foot in and tried to overlook the room. It dawned on him quite fast that from this angle he wasn't getting anywhere. He decided to give it another shot from small plateau to his right, which also was full of half-naked people dancing. He squeezed through the many bodies and although the smell was an assault on his nose, giving him a headache the size of a planet, he was glad. Because with all these people, Levi would never discover him spying.

As he stepped up the scaffolding, he tried getting a position at it's railing to scan place anew.

And there he spotted him.

Levi was sitting in the shadows, the pink and blue glow from the backlit liquor bottles barely illuminating him. His don't-fuck-with-me face announced loud and clear that you screwed with him at your own risk. His eyes were lethally smart, fighter-serious and… leveled on a guy who returned him a hot gaze.

Eren's body went into instant flip-out, like someone was buffing his skin to a high shine while spanking him with a two-by-four. He was instantly breathless and dizzy and flushed, but at least he forgot about his roaring headache.

Sweet Jesus, the man walked over to Levi.

Eren didn't know what to do. He wanted to run, he wanted to get to Levi before it was too late. But he couldn't move. He was glued into his spot, unable to prevent anything from happening.

He saw the man approaching the raven, and the two of them exchanged some words before Levi stood up and they disappeared from Eren's field of vision.

That couldn't be happening. Levi wasn't really preferring fucking some dirty stranger than doing him, was he?

He obviously was, but Eren just had to see it for himself to believe it. Before he knew he was moving at all he sprinted down the plateau, and run after him.

Just when he almost lost sight of them, Eren saw Levi's form disappearing behind a metal door. He hurried after, feeling like some sort of aggravation was pulling him towards the man out of nowhere, and when he opened the door, he found himself again at the foot of a staircase.

He was getting closer, and Eren knew it. He knew this sensation. It felt like thunder rattling his bones, like nighttime beneath the shrouded moon. And he knew. From around the corner, at the top of the stairs, he could already hear the muffled sounds of a man that sure as hell wasn't Levi but also sure as hell sounded as if Levi had his hands on him. Eren was on ground level again, in some alley flanking the building he just came out from. All of this felt way too familiar, as he peeked around the corner and a large pillar, stabilizing some sort of passage leading from the first floor to the building next door, blocked his view. Screwing up his courage, he turned the corner on his toes, and kneeled down behind the large column that's base started a foot away from the wall. He looked through the narrow space to get a glimpse of Levi and the other man. And succeeded.

The view he got made his headache come back at full force, so Eren redirected his eyes to the spot between his feet. But the refocusing didn't last. Two seconds later he was locked on the peep show again, not so much watching it happen as absorbing the details. The man was on his knees and Levi had his hands bunched into the man's hair. He was working his head, hips flexing and releasing as he drilled that mouth. The muted sounds were as incredible as the visual and Eren had to shift in his position, his body hardening despite feeling utterly betrayed. He should've been disgusted by all means, but instead of throwing a tantrum all he could think of was how much he wanted to be the one on his knees, led by Levi's hands. He wanted to be the one whose mouth was full. He wanted to be responsible for making Levi pant and strain. Eren took another shot at looking away. But barely one minute later the ripple of a deep moan once again brought his eyes to the -

Eren's heart stopped.

Levi held the man in front of him, the other's back pressed against his chest, their pants pooling around their ankles and the man's head leaned back on Levi's shoulder.

Levi turned his head.

And locked eyes with Eren, his icy-blueish stare flashing before Levi sank a pair of unnatural long teeth into the man's neck.

Eren screamed.


	24. Chapter 24

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

It wasn't until a deafening sound filled the chilly night and entered Levi's fogged head that he realized he wasn't hallucinating.

In the very same alley, behind the container in front of him, Eren was sitting on the ground, screaming while he watched Levi simultaneously fucking and ending the man in front of him.

As if in slow motion, he saw the brunette getting to his feet, turning around and running for his life. Before he knew he was moving, he threw the other man to the ground, gathered his pants up and run after Eren, before he could alert any other human being passing the streets this late at night.

Around the corner, he saw him rushing down the walkway and about to get into the club's front door. If he would get in there, there was no way he could get him without causing a scene.

He sprinted up to him, so fast his feet barely touched the ground underneath him and reached the brunette before he made it to the door. With one hand pressing on his mouth, the other one sneaking around his waist and picking him up from his feet, he kept running further down and into the next dark alley he came by. The man in his arms struggled like his life was on the line, which he probably did believe, and Levi was amazed that he actually had to concentrate to keep him under control. His hand still on the other's mouth, he pushed Eren against the wall, locking eyes with him.

"Sssshhht, calm it! Calm the fuck down, Eren, I won't hurt you! You-"

Eren managed to get one arm free before Levi could catch it again and pin it above his head. "Shit! Eren, stop it! You're drawing too much attention. It's me! You are in no danger, I promise! Stop screaming! I will explain everything, but please, for fuck's sake, calm down!"

As Levi watched his words sinking in through Eren's fear-fogged mind, he felt the struggle leaving the brunette's body. When he was as certain as he could get that Eren wouldn't start screaming again, he put his hands from his lips.

"Your eyes…," was all the brat said at first.

Levi closed his lids, remembering that they still must be shining like back-lighted diamonds. "Don't let them bother you." He noticed that his hands had dropped onto the other man's chest, right above his racing heart. "What the fuck are you?" he felt the bass vibrating along his ribs.

"I'll take you somewhere save and answer your questions. But you have to promise me to not scream or run again. Deal?"

Yeah, why the hell should he believe one word he said, right after witnessing what he did with that other man. Shit, he hadn't finished the job. The bastard must still be lying in that impasse-

"Okay," he heard Eren say.

Not trusting his ears, but too smart to question Eren's decisions when they were playing in his favour, he looked up at the brunette.

"Good, wait here for a sec."

Levi let go of the man in front of him and walked a bit further down the street and up to a dark green '03 Honda Accord while texting Erwin his location. He looked left and right. No one was in the alley. There were no windows on the buildings. No cars passing by.

Bending down, he picked up a hunk of rock from the ground and punched a hole in the driver's side window. As the alarm went apeshit, he stepped away from the sedan and melted back into the shadows. No one came running. The noise died off.

He hadn't stolen a car since he was fourteen and just a juvenile delinquent, but he was back in the groove now.

He walked over calmly, popped the door, and got in. The sequence that came next was quick and efﬁcient, proving that this kind of crime was something he'd never quite lost: he ripped off the panel underneath the dash. Found the wires. put the right two together and . . . vroom.

Levi knocked out the rest of the shattered glass with his elbow and took off at a leisurely roll. Propping his arm on the window, like he was just taking in the early spring air, he leaned back, all casual.

He drove up to where he had left Eren and sighed in relief that the boy was still standing there, keeping his promise. "Hop in," he said and waited for other to follow his order. Which happened after a reasonable time of hesitation. When he got to the stop sign at the end of the alley, he hit the directional signal and came to a full-tire halt. Following traffic laws when you were in a stolen vehicle and had no ID on you was mission critical.

* * *

Half an hour and a tension-loaded silence later, Levi had arrived his destination and was now standing on the terrace of his private downtown penthouse. The night was a bitch, all March cold and April wet although Mai was coming, the bitter wind weaving around like a drunk with a nasty attitude. As he stood before the panorama of London's bridge, the postcard view of the twinkling city bored him.

Planting his palms on the terrace ledge, he leaned way over and got sandblasted in the face with a rush of icy air, his hair blowing back all fashion-model and shit. Or maybe… more like in those superhero movies the kid liked so much. Yeah, that was a better metaphor.

Except he would be the villain, wouldn't he?

He realized his hands were stroking the flat stone they rested on, caressing it. The ledge was four feet high and ran around the building like the lip of a serving tray. The top of it was a three-foot-wide shelf just begging to be leaped off of, with the thirty feet of thin air on the other side the perfect breezy prelude to death's hard fuck.

He thought back to the times he marvelled about what it must feel like. How the force of wind would push at your chest, making it hard to breathe. How your eyes would water and the tears would streak up your temples, not down your cheeks. How the ground would rush up to greet you, a host ready to welcome you to the party.

But suicide had never been an option.

Levi turned away from the urge to think that part over and went back to one of the sliders, entering the main room through one of the penthouse's three walls of bulletproof glass.

* * *

"Oi, brat," Levi had said, snapping his fingers.

"Get inside. Come on."

Eren's eyes widened and his mouth fell open with a gasp as he entered the door on top floor of one of London's well known elite-hotels. Dark wooden planks and white walls. The furniture was all sleek black, arranged on a deep slate rug. Eren walked inside, and right into an expensive looking living room with a large flat-screen on the wall. He could see the balcony from where he stood and to his right was a kitchen. All appliances were in black, hiding behind a bar counter. There was a glass table next to it, adorned with a bowl filled with fresh fruit.

But that wasn't all that was inside. In the back, at the far end, were a series of glass cases, such as you would ﬁnd at a museum. He went over and checked them out.

Naturally they were dust-free, although not, he sensed, because they'd been cleaned. He just couldn't imagine there being any pollutants in the air around here, even those of the microscopic variety.

The objects inside those cases were fascinating. There was an old-fashioned pair of spectacles, a porcelain bowl of Oriental origin, a whiskey bottle with a label from the 1930s, an ebony cigarette holder, a lady's fan made from white feathers.

He wondered how they ended here. He didn't take Levi for someone who'd be interested in those things. Some of them seemed quite old, though they were in perfect condition and, what sealed the deal on them being Levi's, everything was sparkly-frickin' clean.

As Eren turned around, he saw Levi taking off his cloak with a twist of his wrist. He draped it on a chair, before going out on the balcony. Three sides of the penthouse were made up of sheets of glass, and the sprawling view of London's two halves included the downtown's shimmering lights, the dark curve of the Thamse, the stars shining above all of it. Unlike the twinkling landscape, though, the decor was minimalistic, all ebony and cream elegance. A few paintings, but no photos in sight, vases and a wine rack. And so absolutely and spotlessly clean, one could think it was an exhibition room instead of an ordinary apartment. Which was partly true, wasn't it?

From out of nowhere, something brushed against his leg, and Eren almost jumped out of his skin. Looking down, he met the jade green eyes of a black cat. The feline blinked, purred at him, and rubbed its head against his ankle.

Bending at the waist, he stroked its fur with unsteady hands. The animal was incomparably elegant, all lean lines and graceful, sliding movements.

When Eren sat down on the large couch in the middle of the living room, the animal followed him close by and curled up in his lap, instantly starting to vibrate through its entire body.

Eren saw Levi returning from the balcony again. "I see he's introduced himself."

Eren looked down in his lap. "What's his name?"

"Heicho. It's Japanese for Corporal."

"You from Japan?" it gushed out of him.

"No."

Chit-chat... more like testing the waters before heavier topics came on the table.

As the wind swept in from the glass slider Levi had kept open, Eren couldn't stop the shivering that went through his limbs. From out of nowhere, a thick and plushy blanket was thrown over his head and shoulders. "Oh… thanks", he said as Levi returned to his spot next to the armrest, looking down at him.

"So, what-? Ere started, but had no clue how to continue.

"What I am?" Levi finished his question. "I guess you figured that out by now."

Eren tried some other explanations in his head, weighing them around before he spoke again. "This can't be true. There is no way-"

"There isn't? Then did you run off screaming like a girl?"

Trying to keep his focus on the purring cat in his lap, Eren felt his body heating. Oh boy… those imagines of Levi behind that man popped up in his mind again. Especially the moment Levi discovered him spying on them.

The truth was… he didn't scream because he was scared. Neither did he run out of fear. He'd just been... yeah, startled might be the right word. Ashamed then shortly after. Frightened that being spotted would put an end to whatever he had with that raven haired man. As he listened deep within himself, he realised, he wasn't even that much surprised about what he discovered. He knew from the very moment they met that something about Levi felt different. If anything, it finally made sense now. He _was_ different. He lifted his head, and stared right into Levi's steel-grey eyes. "You're a… a-"

The other man sighed deeply when he still hesitated. "Just say it and get it over with."

 _Easier said than done, dude_. "A vampire."

"Congratulations." Levi walked to one side of the room and poured himself a glass of wine.

"How is it even possible?" Eren mumbled more to himself than actually asking a question.

Nonetheless, Levi answered him: "The same way almost every other species exists on this god forsaken planet. I was born."

"But- I still don't get it. Vampires are a myth, creatures made up by the horror industry..."

* * *

Levi stayed silent. If Eren was aiming for a PowerPoint presentation, he shouldn't hold his breath.

"Is this really the truth?" the boy asked again.

 _Why in the world would he lie about this?_

"Have your parents also been… vampires?"

Levi stopped his motion as he led the glass to his mouth. "Can't tell", he said honestly after a moment of hesitation, "I don't know much about them."

"Then tell me what you know."

He hesitated again.

"You said, you'd answer my questions," the damn kid pushed. Shit, he knew there was no way around this. He went back to the couch and settled down in one the armchairs.

"Fine. But it's the truth, I know almost nothing about them. I was born in Germany, or more precisely in a place near Munich, which at that time was kind of... medievally you could say. I lived there with my mother, but since she left me when I was still young, I don't remember very much about her." Levi felt his throat tightening. "I lived on the streets for most of my childhood as part of a group of homeless and thieves. It was when I noticed I was different from everyone else that I left them. That's when I met Erwin."

Levi's mind wandered back to one night before he transformed.

 _He had waited in the catacombs' shadows, staying out of the ﬂickering light thrown by the camp's ﬁre pit. Seven deer were being consumed in a bawdy frenzy, the grown-ups slicing meat off bones and chewing like animals, marking their faces and hands. On the sidelines of the meal, the youngsters trembled with greed._

 _Like the others, Levi was sharpened to an edge from starvation. But he didn't stand with his fellow young. He waited in the faraway darkness, eyes locked on his prey._

 _The guy he tracked was fat as a hog, with folds of ﬂesh falling over his clothes and facial features indistinct because of the puffy padding. The glutton went without a shirt most of the time, his bulbous chest and distended belly jiggling while he paraded around going after the whores or kicking the stray dogs that lived in the camp. For all his sloth, however, he was a vicious hunter. What he lacked in speed he made up for in brute strength. With hands as big as a grown man's head, he was rumored to snap the limbs of others and eat them._

 _At every meal he was among the first to get to the meat, and he ate with speed, though he was hampered by a lack of accuracy. He didn't pay a lot of attention to what actually made it into his mouth: pieces of flesh and streams of fat and segments of bone would coat his stomach and chest, a gory tunic knit of his sloppy ministrations._

 _This night the man ﬁnished early and eased back onto his quarters, a deer ﬂank in his ﬁst. Though he was through, he lingered next to the carcass he'd been working on, pushing others away for amusement._

 _When it was time for the sparring punishments to be dealt out, the group moved from the ﬁre pit to the platform. In the light of torches, those who had lost during practice were bent over and violated by those who'd bested them, to the sneers and slaps of the others. Meanwhile, the younger ones fell on what was left of the meal while the women of the camp watched with hard eyes, waiting for their turn._

 _Levi's prey wasn't much interested in the humiliations._

 _The fat man watched for a little while, then lumbered off, the leg hanging from his hand. His ﬁlthy pallet was all the way at the far edges of where the grown ups slept, because even to their noses, his stench offended._

 _Stretched out, he looked like an undulated ﬁeld, his body a series of hills and valleys. The animal leg lying across his belly was the prize at the top of the mountain._

 _Levi stayed back until the man's beady eyes were covered by ﬂeshy lids and his heﬁy chest went up and down with a slowing rhythm. Soon his ﬁsh lips fell open, and one snore escaped, followed by another. It was then that Levi closed in on his bare feet, making no sound over the dirt ﬂoor._

 _The foal smell of the man didn't deter Levi, so hungry he was, and he cared not about the grime on the deer's fresh muscle either. He reached forward, small hand splayed, inching towards the bone joint._

 _Just as he ripped it free, a dagger streaked down next to the man's ear and its penetration into the floor snapped open the man's eyes._

 _The group's leader loomed like a chain-mail ﬁst about to fall, legs planted, dark eyes leveled. He was the biggest of all in the camp, and his presence inspired fear for two reasons: his size and his unpredictability. His mood was everchanging, his whims violent and capricious, but Levi knew the truth behind the variable temper. There was nothing that was not calibrated for effect. His malicious cunning ran as deep as his muscle was thick._

 _"Wake up," the leader snapped. "You laze while you are being robbed by a weakling." Levi cringed away, but started to eat nonetheless, sinking his teeth into the meat and chewing as fast as he could._

 _He would be beaten for this, likely by the both of them, so he had to consume as much as possible before the blows landed upon him._

 _The fat one made excuses until the leader kicked him in the sole of the foot with a spiked boot. Fatty went gray in the face but knew better than to cry out._

 _"The whys of this bore me. What are you gonna do about it, is my question." Without taking a breath the fat one curled up a ﬁst, leaned over, and slammed it into Levi's side. Levi lost the mouthful he had as the impact drove the breath from his lungs and the meat from his mouth. As he gasped, he picked the piece up from the dirt and pushed it back between his lips. It tasted salty from the catacomb's ﬂoor._

 _As the beating begun, Levi ate through the blows until he felt his calf bone bend until it nearly snapped._

 _He let out a scream and lost the deer leg. Someone else picked it up and ran away with it._

 _All along, the leader laughed without smiling, the barking sound coming from lips that were straight and thin as knives. And then he ended it. With no effort at all he grabbed the fat man by the back of the neck and threw him against the rock wall._

 _The leader's spiked boots planted in front of Levi's face. "Get me my knife." Levi blinked dry eyes and tried to move._

 _There was a rustle of fabric, and then the leader's face was before Levi. "Get me my knife, boy. Or I will have you take the whores' place tonight."_

 _The others who had gathered behind him cackled, and someone threw a stone that hit Levi where his leg had been injured._

 _"My knife, boy." Levi speared his little ﬁngers into the dirt and dragged himself over to the weapon. Though a mere two feet from him, the blade seemed miles away. When he ﬁnally closed his palm around it, he needed both hands to free it from the dirt, he was so weak. His stomach was rolling from pain, and as he pulled at the blade, he threw up the meat he had stolen._

 _After the retching passed, he held up the dagger to the leader, who had risen back to his full height._

 _"Stand," he said. "Do think you I should bow to the worthless?" Levi struggled into a sitting position and couldn't fathom how he was going to get his full body up, as he could barely lift his shoulders. He switched the dagger to his left hand, planted his right one on the dirt, and pushed._ _  
_ _The pain was so great his eyesight went black. He peeled himself from the ground, rising up while trying to put no weight on his leg. With a hand that shook, he presented the dagger to the leader._ _  
_ _The man stared back for a heartbeat, as if he'd never expected Levi to get to his feet. Then he took the weapon and turned away._ _  
_ _"Someone knock him back down. His boldness offends me." Levi landed in a heap when the order was followed, and at once, agony returned. He waited for other blows to land, but when he heard a crowd's roar, he knew that the losers' punishments would be the amusement for the day, not his._  
As he lay in the swamp of his misery, as he tried to breathe through the pounding of his battered body, he pictured a female coming unto him and wrapping him up in her arms. With soft words she cradled him and stroked his hair, easing him.

 _He welcomed the vision. She was his mother._

 _The one who loved him and wanted him to be safe and warm and fed. Verily, the image of her was what kept him alive, giving him the only peace he knew._

 _The fat man leaned down, his fetid, humid breath invading Levi's nose. "You steal from me again and you won't heal from what I do to you." The man spat in Levi's face, then picked him up and slung him away like useless debris from the dirty pallet, before Levi passed out._

About one month later, it was then he had learned, as did the whole camp, that in his blood were the components of a warrior. As so many times before, the leader had used him as his favourite object of torture. But this time he wasn't getting away with it. Without being taught, Levi's body knew what to do and had responded to physical aggression with chilling action. Even as his mind struggled with the brutality of his deeds, his hands and feet and fangs had known precisely what exertion was necessary. There had been another side of him, unknown, unrecognized… that somehow seemed more "him" than the reflection he had so long regarded within leaded glass. As Levi was done with the leader, he watched them all turn around as if nothing had happened, and he realised he felt no hatred. Usually, when the backs were turned, Levi gave free rein to how much he despised them. Now there had been nothing. He felt… nothing.

The truth was no doubt obvious: disconnected as he was now, there was nothing he could not stomach, no deed he could not accomplish, no means he would not call forth to reach an end. After that he had left the camp and crossed paths was Erwin, who taught him to use his strengths properly. Over time, his fighting had grown even more proficient… and his horror at himself had lessened.

He became a vicious, deadly opponent.

* * *

"So, Erwin knew about you? Is he also…-"

"No," Levi said. "But Erwin knew the moment we met what I was. He caught me drinking and took me in that night. He's the last son of a family once known for hunting my kind. He told me that no one had seen someone like me for a very long time, so long that the memories of my species faded over the years and decades until eventually they became legends and myths. In his family, however, they were passed on as true stories over generations from father to son. He wasn't afraid of me. He said he'd met more frightening individuals during his career than me. He also taught me how to handle the- the bloodlust."

He heard the boy swallow from the other side of the coffee table. "How does it work?" he asked. "I mean... do you need blood to stay alive?"

"We experimented with what happens when I don't get any. We tried some scenarios, but it always resulted in me getting weak, real weak. Up to the point where I was close to death, but instead of dying, I turned into a mere animal. Only the need to drink remained in me, but other than that I was an empty shell. I never remembered the details, but according to Erwin and his scientists, I didn't recognize them. I attacked everything that came near and that was it. We never crossed that line to see what happens next. He always stopped the experiments at this point."

The boy was sitting there, listening to every word he said without any other emotion showing on his face than pure interest. Levi couldn't believe that this was actually happening right now. That he sat with another person, an outsider, and told him about what he kept in secret for so, so many years. This thought overwhelmed him, but in lack of alternatives what he could do now, he simply went on.

"Erwin told me that vampires used to drink from the other gender of their own kind since their blood is way stronger and more nutritious than human blood. But as it seemed, I am a half-blood and to the chords of his grandfather's records, you never know what characteristics half-bloods develop."

"So, your mother also was-?" The brat still had trouble forming that specific word.

"I couldn't answer that even if my life depended on it. After years of training and gaining Erwin's trust, he helped me find my mother. I returned to the places I remembered from my youth and found out that she had worked as a prostitute down in the catacombs. She probably got knocked up by one of her clients, and that's how she got me. But I don't know which of them carried the other species' blood."

"Are there others like you out there?"

"As I said, Erwin told me it had been decades since someone had seen one of my kind. He was certain, vampires were extinct, if they ever existed, until he met me. And to this day I am the only one who ever crossed his way, even though he and I searched for others like me."

"According to the documents of his grandfather, the numbers simply weren't in the race's facour. Vampires didn't live forever and could be killed and the balance could be thrown off in an instant. Their population had shrunk over hundreds of years until there were only a few enclaves of left. They've flirted with extinction for a long time back then, and not just because the human kind hadn't been very fond of them from the first time.

Females frequently didn't survive childbirth, either from blood loss or soaring preeclampsia. Stillborns were common, and infant mortality was through the roof. Half-breeds have been even more rare since the species preferred to keep by his own kind. I am most likely one of the last of them."

Suddenly, the kid's face light up as if something had occurred to him just this moment. "But you do have… you sleep with…"

Eren pulled the blanket up around his shoulders. "How do you know you're not getting them pregnant? Maybe there are already others like you out there," he said, his voice trailing off at the end of the sentence.  
It took Levi a moment before he realised what the boy meant by that. He'd seen with him a man tonight, so where did he get the impression he was doing women as well?

"What makes you think I swing both ways?" he asked suspiciously.

Eren tugged his head deeper into the blanket, his shoulders bouncing up. "Just a hunch." he mumbled into the fabric. _Is… is he sulking?_

"It's obvious to me when women are fertile. I can smell it. It doesn't really matter in the end though, since I…"

Yeah, they didn't live that long after he was done with them.

"Since you what?"

"Let's say, it's the same like with my targets. I choose those who aren't worth mourning over. Makes it simpler to do it and keep my existence a secret. It was one of the conditions Erwin made. And luckily there is a large sea I can pick from. Unfortunately, the urge to drink is linked directly to… wanting sex. They go hand in hand. There isn't much I can do about it. That's why I have to use those who'd probably make it on my list anyway at some point of time. Or just won't because nobody pays to see them dead."

That was it. The edge in him had to get dulled, and their bodies were the stone he used to grind himself down on. Filth to dirt. End of story.

"What about… I mean, do you use protection?" the brat bluntly asked.

Levi didn't see the connection between their topic and his question, but he still answered him. "I could no more get the common cold from one of them than I could HIV or hep C or any STD. And I'm not a carrier of those diseases, either. Human viruses don't affect me."

A strange silence spread between them, in which Levi watched the boy from the corner of his eye. He couldn't fathom what was going on in the other's head. He didn't even know what was on his mind right now. He felt empty, but somehow also... relieved. Maybe because Eren didn't run away again. Maybe because he'd never talked to anyone like that about all this before. He couldn't say.

When the silence didn't break and Eren remained illegible like a book with a closed cover, Levi considered how he could change both of that. "You want something to eat? I could use a bite right now." When the brat made a weird face, he added: "I am talking food, stupid. Like in a sandwich or something like that."

He headed into the kitchen, and heard Eren's footsteps following behind him. Levi went to his fridge to see if there was anything edible in his flat. The milk was still good, now all he needed was…

When he closed the fridge's door again, he saw Eren standing in the door frame. He seemed slightly out of place, but Levi knew this was due solely to his insecurity. In a short moment of dreaming, he imagined the boy in exactly that spot, but instead of night it was bright morning, the day's first rays of sunshine falling through his windows and on Eren's tan skin. He imagined him in nothing but a sweater reaching down to his thighs, his hair ruffled from the night he had spent in his bed. He would stand there, like now, but quite different. Relaxed, leaning against the door, watching him as he prepared breakfast for him. And he smiled at him. Yeah, he'd like that.

The sound of someone clearing his throat pulled Levi out of his mind. Eren. He looked at him slightly embarrassed. Shit, he must've been staring. What was he going to do? Oh, yes, the rice pudding.

Levi rummaged through his closets and found sugar and a still acceptable vanilla bean. He brought water to a boil in a large saucepan, washed the rice and drained it. While adding the rice to the boiling water, and cooking it for five minutes, he brought the milk to a boil over medium heat in a separate saucepan. "You know, I would've thought vampires only drink blood," the kid stated behind his back. He had gotten closer.

"Necessary nutrients in it, but I need food, too."

He removed the cooked rice from the other pan, drained it, and slowly dropped it into the boiling milk. Lowering the heat and adding salt, vanilla bean, and sugar, he covered and simmered everything for about 15 to 20 minutes while stirring occasionally, until the milk was absorbed.

"How about garlic?"

"Keep that shit away from me. It's disgusting, but not because it kills me. Simply can't stand this shit."

When the dish was finished, he spooned the rice into two porcelain bowls. "Sugar, cinnamon or both?"

"Both, please. What about not being able to go out during the day?"

"Did you see me go up in flames at any time? Benefit of only being half-blooded. Full-blood vampires do not do sunlight, though," he said as he garnished the bowls with brown and white sprinkles.

"What happens?"

"Second- to third-degree burns pop up upon exposure. Incineration occurs not long afterwards. But all this is just information we didn't get first hand."

Levi offered one of the bowls to Eren, and when he returned to the living room, he felt the kid's eyes boring into his back, the tension behind him increasing.

"Do you have to suck them dry to satisfy your needs?"

He couldn't tell if it was accusation he heard in his voice or if he made it up himself. "Not really, but I do it nonetheless. As I said, I cannot risk that anyone finds out about me. They would hunt me down and I would end up in some scientist's labor who doesn't give a shit about what happens to me in the end. That's why I can't let them live."

There had been times when he seriously thought about putting himself to an end. He hated what he had to do to stay stabile and not turn into a brainless animal, endangering everyone around him. But Erwin convinced him to put those needs and his abilities to a better use.

When they sat down again, Eren asked the one-million-dollar question. "What will you do about me?"

He had thought about it from the second they got into the car. "I don't know yet, to be honest. But relax, I'm not going to kill you. That's not an option." _Never will be._

"Not that I ain't happy to hear that, but… why not?"

"I don't lay hands on innocent people, Eren. And you've done nothing that justifies killing you."

* * *

Eren didn't know what to do with Levi's statement. Sure, he was glad he wouldn't be watching the daisies grow from the muddy side of the earth too soon. But he still didn't get much of an answer to what was going to happen to him now that he knew about Levi's secret. Just because he wouldn't kill him, it didn't necessarily mean no one else would, did it? Or… did Levi trust him?

The thought warmed him up and his gaze wandered from the feline who had made itself comfortable on the couch in the meantime. "What about the cat, by the way? Do you really let it be all by itself the whole time you're not here?"

"One of Erwin's assistants takes care of him. She stays here when I'm not around and she keeps the flat clean and him company."

He couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but when he imagined someone else, a woman, walking through the rooms, wiping the surfaces and then settling on the couch, preferably where he was sitting right now, one of the subordinate emotions he had felt back there in the alley flared up again. Jealousy. Probably she was even someone close to Levi or at least someone he trusted. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't let her stay here alone.

Eren felt his pulse rate raising, and his palms became sweaty, as absently, he looked at Levi's hands around the bowl he was holding. Long-fingered. Strong. The kind that could do damage. But not only.

"What are you thinking about?" Levi suddenly asked.

"Oh, ehm… nothing really." Eren attempted to lie. But somehow Levi's eyes told him that he could tell he was lying.

Trying to get away from this knowing stare, Eren rose from the couch after finishing his bowl and walked up to the glass front. The view was spectacular. High up, above the city's heads that were plunged into the night, nothing that restricted you. No walls. Only widths and skies and lights sparkling through the darkness. He bet they were so high, the air would even smell different from down on the grounds. He was tempted to ask whether he could go out on the balcony, when he felt pale lips brushing along his neck from out of nowhere, making him shiver. _When had he gotten behind me?_

"Levi, what are you doing?" Eren felt slim digits sinking under the hem of his shirt and spreading along either side of his waist. A rush of pleasure that had been stuffed down what felt like an eternity ago made Eren moan deep in his throat.

In mere seconds, he was spun around only to be muted by a fierce kiss that knocked out the air of his lungs. He didn't give Eren time to close his mouth before he kissed him, hard, as if somehow wanting to leave his mark on the inside of his mouth.

They easily melded their mouths tighter, Eren's hips being encouraged by Levi's hands. Eren sucked in a sharp breath, shivering while his fingers grasped at the back of the other's shoulders.

Without hesitation his arousal snapped back into play, heating him from the inside out. "Levi-" His lips cut him off again and then his tongue took over, invading, taking, caressing. As the heat roared in his body, Eren gave up the fight and savored the mad lust, the pounding in his chest, the arching between his legs.

Levi let out a low purr, as if he'd sensed his arousal. He felt his tongue retract, and then he took his lower lip between his -

Fangs. Those were fangs nipping at his flesh.

Fear threaded through his passion and thickened it, adding a dangerous edge that opened him even further. He put his hands on Levi's arms, and God, he was so hard. So strong. Eren wondered what it would feel like be held by him while his skin was pierced by those teeth that nibbled on his flesh.

As they briefly parted, watching each other through their half-lidded gazes, Levi's irises literally glowed, throwing off light that cast the room in shadows. His eyes held the colorless splendor of diamonds, shining so bright they reminded him of the winter moon on a cloudless night.

They were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life, incomparable to anything else.

Between his lips, he saw the tips of his fangs and was struck by a compulsion he couldn't ﬁght. He pushed his tongue into his mouth and licked at the sharp points, feeling them rasp over his ﬂesh. He wanted them in his skin... he wanted him to suck at him, ﬁll his belly, live off of him.

"Le- ahh- vi. Why," he panted through his parted lips into the other man's mouth as Levi pushed their war back into Eren's territory, "why don't you take from me?"

A low growl rippled through the room as Levi's mouth went down to his neck, and Eren had a hard time to pin where it came from. "No."

"But why not? I wouldn't-," he felt that devilish tongue glide over his erratic pulse, "shit, I wouldn't mind. Honestly."

Levi pulled back, staring at him. God, he was beautiful. Breathtakingly. Those shining diamond eyes. Those parted lips. Those pointy fangs that threatened to pierce his own lower lip. Alien.

"I would never take anything from you. You are different, Eren. You don't deserve what I want to do to you."

His body heated up at those words even more, and his vision almost got white by the force of his arousal. "But I am offering."

"I can't, Eren. You're too pure. I couldn't bear the thought of soiling you like that. To treat you like all the others."

Eren wanted to protest, but the way that raspy voice kept saying his name, made him weak in the knees to a point, his legs simply gave out.

Before he fell to the ground though, Levi's arms slipped around his body and held him tight against his chest.

"Let's get back for now," Levi said as he helped him back on his feet. "The night's been long enough."


End file.
